Last Chance, Last Dance
by Sandylee007
Summary: It was ironic that Sasuke only found out how much she wanted to live after discovering she’s dying after a failed suicide-attempt. Her life is put through even more spin when she meets a boy named Naruto who refuses to believe he's dying. AU NaruxFEMSasu
1. Prologue

As Sasuke's eyelids inched ever so slowly, she had no idea of where she was

A/N: Hey there, folks!

So here it begins – the winner of the poll, and probably one of the most tragic love-stories I've EVER written!

But, before getting to the business…

**A word of warning**. This fic is yaoi/yuri-free, so no worries in that field, but will include EXTREMELY dark themes (such as rape and attempted suicide). The rating may rise as the story scrambles forward. So… eh… Not recommended for the faintest of souls, un. (sweatdrops)

**And, to avoid confusion...** I played around with the characters' ages a bit (only a year or two, though) to make the plotline as interesting as possible. Just thought I should mention. (grins)

Yes, and of course… DISCLAIMER: Me, own something? (laughs oneself to near-death) Yeah, maybe in my dreams. (sighs miserably)

Okay, okay, let's get going then! I REALLY hope this was worth the voting!

(One more thing! To those who've voted... The results as to which story finished second were almost stunningly clear. 'Darkest Hours' will appear as soon as I manage to write the first chapter.)

* * *

" _Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity." _(Henry Van Dyke)

* * *

/ _**Last Chance, Last Dance**_ /

- tribute to love that was doomed before it even begun

* * *

CHAPTER 1: Prologue

* * *

During his career, Dr. Kakashi Hatake had seen many cases that'd most likely never completely leave his nightmares. But what he came across that evening – not to mention the events that were to follow during the upcoming months – went beyond all that.

No matter how much of a doctor he was, he couldn't keep emotions from showing as he entered a emergency room to face a sixteen-years-old girl with long black hair and unnaturally pale skin laying completely motionless, her eyes closed. It wouldn't have required a doctor's degree to notice the blood caked wrappings around both of her wrists.

Voice of a nurse named Shizune's managed to pull him out of his thoughts. " Kakashi, thank heavens! She's lost a lot of blood – we need to work fast."

Blinking himself to full alertness, he dashed to the patient. Quick check up revealed she was unconscious, but not sunken deep just yet. " What's her name?"

" Uchiha Sasuke."

He nodded, surprised by the boyish name, then spoke a bit louder than necessary. " Sasuke, can you hear me?" To his utter surprise, the girl made a faintest moan and frowned, obviously displeased. " You're in a hospital. We're going to take care of you."

Sasuke moaned once more, emitting something that sounded quite close to " Please don't…", before she slipped back into darkness.

It took much longer than he'd expected to get the damage fixed, but eventually both wrists were stitched up and securely covered by thick, fresh bandages. " Whoever found her did excellent job with trying to help her. Who was it?"

There was an extremely sad look in Shizune's eyes. " Her older brother, Itachi."

He shuddered, taking a glance towards the unconscious girl.

Why on earth did she do something like this to herself?

As though something inside had urged him, he found his eyes sweeping across the girls arms, and frowned upon seeing the huge, dark bruises on them, obviously left from being restrained. One glance towards Shizune revealed she shared his opinion. No matter how strong the person who'd attacked Sasuke was, the bastard shouldn't have been able to leave damage like that. Those bruises weren't normal.

A dark feeling suddenly filling him, his gaze moved downwards, eventually stopping to the girl's pants. The bruises were momentarily wiped from his mind. For despite dark fabric, he could quite clearly see an even darker stain of blood.

He had to swallow hard to restrain nausea. " Shizune… Could you go and get a rape kit?"

* * *

In a room only a couple of floors above, Naruto bounced into a sitting position in his hospital bed, gasping and feeling twigging in his chest.

What exactly it was that'd woken him, he had no idea. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't shrug off the jolting in his chest as a trick of imagination or result of a nightmare.

" Naruto?" So deep in thought he'd been, that he almost jumped with startle upon hearing his foster father Iruka's worry-lazed voice. " Are you alright? Are you in pain?"

After a couple of blinks, he managed to compose himself enough to turn his head and give the man a somewhat weak grin. " Nah, I just… had a odd dream." His expression then turned into a warning one as he spotted the dark circles around Iruka's eyes, and despite darkness noticed how pale the usually tanned man was. " But what are you still doing here? You've got early classes tomorrow – you should be sleeping!"

Iruka gave him a look that could've been described as amused or wry. " Don't you dare start to worry about me, Naruto. I'll be just fine. Right now, you need to focus on getting yourself stronger. You gave me quite a scare when you fainted yesterday."

Naruto chewed his lip, feeling guilty although he knew he shouldn't have. (He'd lost track on how many times Iruka had tried to convince him into believing the condition of his heart was none of his fault.) Soon enough, however, his serious expression was replaced by his usual grin. " Well, if you refuse to go home, then you'll have to sleep here." The blonde cast him a stern glance while making room. " And that was an order."

-

Iruka was forced to restrain a chuckle while he – after some debuting – laid down beside Naruto, regardless to the fact that the bed was too small for them. " You're much too old for this, Naruto", he stated softly.

The blonde shrugged while closing his eyes. It was at that moment – as moonlight revealed just how pale Naruto was – he once again realized just how exhausted this brief talking had made the teen. How little time there was left. (According to doctors, Naruto's heart would last less than a year. Transplant was the teen's only hope.)

He was glad Naruto had already fast asleep as he pulled his foster son just a little bit closer, then – and only then – allowing tears to slip through closed eyelids.

He knew how much Naruto hated seeing him like this.

* * *

Unlike majority of people, Sakura had always liked hospitals in some twisted way, even the strangely secure sterile smell. Maybe it was because everything in there worked with reason and logic, everything had an explanation. That's why she'd considered herself the luckiest girl in the entire world when she'd – although she was only sixteen – been granted a volunteer worker's position in a hospital. She wasn't allowed to do much, of course – she only spent time with the patients and sometimes helped with feeding – but that was far more than enough for her.

That night of late fall, she found herself regretting her decision of asking for the position for a very first time.

At first, she only saw Shizune as a small group met her path in a hallway, and she already lifted a hand for a greeting, not noticing how rattled the older looked. But then, the hand fell and her eyes widened to nearly impossible size when she realized who was the one helping the woman carting a hospital bed, and ominous weight appeared to her stomach. Itachi Uchiha wasn't crying – the boy would've never displayed his emotions like that in public. But the expression upon the older Uchiha-sibling's face was most definitely that of one who's whole world was falling apart.

She opened her mouth to ask what was wrong, but all words were slammed into the very back of her throat as she recognized the girl in the bed.

She and Sasuke Uchiha had been best friends for as long as she could remember and beyond. During that time, she couldn't remember many occasions when Sasuke would've allowed even her to see the girl fragile and broken – not even when she and Itachi's parents had died. But those were the only words she could find to describe the suddenly almost unfamiliar-looking, impossibly pale girl resting in the hospital bed that seemed ridiculously huge for her, eyes closed softly.

Her whole world spinning, Sakura eventually managed to regain her capability to function and sprinted to them. " What… What happened?!" she managed to choke out while placing a hand to Sasuke's ivory cheek. The girl didn't react.

Itachi shook his head, apparently unable to form another word. It wasn't until then she realized just how badly the boy was trembling as shock washed over after adrenaline had faded.

" Sakura." Shizune's voice was firm, but also held such tenderness that told the older understood. " We need to take her to recovery room."

She nodded somewhat dumbly, then in a spur of a moment took Itachi's hand. The older Uchiha shuddered, but didn't pull away. " C'mon", she murmured, her throat feeling tight and scratchy. " You look like you're about to collapse." She had to blink against the burning in her eyes as she glanced towards Shizune. " You… You'll come and tell us if she wakes up, right?"

The woman nodded. " Of course."

As she dragged Itachi (and, if she dared to be honest, herself as well) away from Sasuke, neither said a word. In fact, nothing was said during the entire time they sat in the cafeteria, staring at their untouched mugs of coffee with unseeing eyes.

There was nothing any words could've done to change things anymore.

* * *

As Sasuke's eyelids inched ever so slowly, she had no idea of where she was. All her senses managed to catch immediately were whiteness that seemed to continue to eternity, and a small, muffled sound she just couldn't identify, no matter how hard she tried. There was also a stomach turning, extremely strong scent in the air.

She blinked sluggishly.

Was she dead?

Surprisingly enough, that thought didn't make her as happy as she'd expected.

Her head impossibly hazy, he tried to lift one hand to rub her eyes, but became alarmed upon discovering that she couldn't, for something was restraining her.

Her breath hitched just a little and she almost managed to panic, until Itachi's familiar voice carried into her ears. " Sasuke? Are you awake?"

Extremely slowly, the simple motion requiring a massive gathering of strength, she turned her head to face Itachi. She immediately regretted her decision.

Itachi's red, puffy eyes – filled with exhaustion, anger and utter worry – as well as the huge dark bags underneath them clearly gave out her brother hadn't slept for a while. The teen's skin also held this unhealthy pale shade.

She swallowed thickly, already knowing exactly what was to come.

She'd lost count on how many moments of heavy silence had passed until the older finally drawled out. " Sasuke… Why?" Gosh, she'd never heard such devastation and desperation before! " Why…? Why the hell did you do that to yourself? I could've helped you, I…!" Her brother sounded like he'd been choking. " Why didn't you tell me?" Those eyes boring into hers held a loud question. ' _Don't you trust me?_'

She looked away and buried her face into one hand, mentally cursing how badly her eyes stung. She pulled her hand away from Itachi's, remnants of her tormenter's touch still much too raw and tender. It seemed to take forever before she managed to find her voice, and when she did, it didn't sound anything like hers. " I… I'm just so tired, 'Tachi."

She was glad she wasn't looking, because even if she wasn't she could still feel the wave of agony and misery that radiated from Itachi. As though coming from another world completely, her brother's words carried to her ears. " Sasuke… Who did this to you?"

She absolutely hated hurting her brother like this, but she just couldn't bring herself to speaking anything more. They'd already been through far too much – she just couldn't throw this at Itachi, too. She was already a pathetic weight load enough as it was. This was her burden alone.

That's why she simply kept her eyes closed and allowed herself to drift away into soothing numbness.

Damnit, it would've been so much easier for everyone if she'd just succeeded!

-

As he looked at his sister, who seemed to fall asleep, Itachi felt this unbearable burning rising into his eyes, and it took his all to not emit a whimper.

He had to stay strong right now, for Sasuke's sake. He couldn't just break down.

He just managed to blink away the burning sensation as the door behind him opened, and there was a stunningly calm façade upon his face as he faced a silver-haired doctor in his late twenties. The doctor smiled a bit, offering a hand. " Hello. I'm Dr. Kakashi Hatake, your sister's doctor."

He took the hand, something swelling in his throat. He had to clear his throat before words agreed to come. " Uchiha Itachi. How… How is she?"

Kakashi's expression turned into something beyond serious. The silver-haired's gaze flickered to sleeping Sasuke before moving back to him. " I assume you already know that Sasuke lost quite a bit of blood, and that she was raped." The last word came out with unnecessary bitterness.

He nodded, the nausea from before returning tenfold. It took a long moment before he managed to ask. " Are they going to catch the freak who did this to her?"

Kakashi eyes turned even darker than before. " We got an excellent sample, so the chances are better than average."

Itachi wasn't sure which one was stronger – the urge to heave or kill.

So the asshole hadn't bothered to use protection.

He barely heard as Kakashi went on. " Right now, we're hoping that bastard's in the police's register. If so, he'll be caught in no time."

Itachi nodded, this all becoming too much for him to take in and process. His face seemed deviously blank as everything swirled underneath the surface.

In a few years he'd graduate as a doctor, damnit! What kind of a doctor would he make if he couldn't even protect his own little sister? The court had trusted Sasuke into his care, and he, he'd…

He swallowed again, barely able to keep himself from throwing up.

He wasn't entirely sure which one he hated more – himself or that bastard who'd done this. But what he knew for sure was that when he'd face that freak, only one of them would walk away alive.

-

It'd been several years from the last time Kakashi had come as close to crying as he did now, watching the siblings – the last of Uchihas, as papers had told him.

It'd only been a little over a year from when their parents had died. (Sasuke had spent for over a week in a hospital after that.) Since then, Itachi – although he was now only nineteen – had been taking care of Sasuke alone, and Sasuke had been barely hanging in there despite medication and intense therapy. And now…

Exactly how much did fate see fit to put those two through?

He was almost startled when there was suddenly a knock right behind him. Turning his head, he was mildly surprised to see the strange look upon Shizune's face. " Kakashi… Can I talk to you for a minute?"

He nodded somewhat stiffly. Before going, he squeezed Itachi's shoulder, although he knew the gesture would most likely bring no comfort.

He allowed himself to frown only when he was safely out of the room. " What's wrong?"

The woman swallowed thickly. " Those tests you ordered for Uchiha Sasuke… The results just arrived. It was all negative for STDs, but… They found something else."

He was starting to feel extremely cold. " Yeah?"

" According to the tests, there was severe abnormality." The woman offered him some papers, incredibly sad look in her eyes. " You should take a look at these. Even with the blood loss, these results are alarming."

His hand trembled a little as accepted the offering. The more he read, the more ashen and tense his face became. Damnit, how he hated being right sometimes…

Several minutes must've passed until he found his voice again. " We'll have to make some more tests", he all but sighed, folding the paper as though it'd been the most repulsive thing in the entire universe. " Let's just hope we're wrong."

Shizune nodded darkly. For a moment, she looked like she'd been about to say something, but in the end started to leave. " I'll go and schedule those tests right away."

Kakashi nodded numbly, his voice unwilling to work.

Once he was left alone, he turned his gaze towards the door of Sasuke's room and swallowed.

He had no idea of from where he'd manage to summon the courage to walk in and deliver the news.

* * *

Sakura had always been proud of her capability of concentrating in such situations that would've went over most peoples' heads – that was a huge reason to why she'd chosen to work in a hospital, and perhaps one day become a doctor or a nurse.

But that Saturday morning, all that fit into her chaotic mind was Sasuke. She knew where her friend's room was, had even approached it for several times, but each time her courage had failed her. After all, the only thing she'd ever feared was damages she couldn't fix.

She nearly jumped when hearing Naruto's voice. " Sakura-chan, you've been playing with those flowers for ten minutes." The blonde was looking at her with a small frown. " What's wrong?"

She flashed the teen a guilty smile. Naruto had – despite the fact that he could drive anyone up the wall – been one of her favourite patients since she'd started. She felt bad about spacing out around him. " Sorry. It's just…" She debuted for a long moment before answering. Her eyes no longer met Naruto's. " A friend of mine… is ill. I'm worried about her."

Naruto blinked with confusion. " Then why don't you go and see her?"

She looked down once more, finally leaving the flowers alone. " I…" She swallowed, then sighed. " … suppose I should."

" Then go." Naruto smirked radiantly when faced with her frown. " I'll be okay. Besides, Iruka will be here soon."

Officially out of any excuses, she smiled a bit at the boy. " Thanks." She then started to leave, guilt gnawing her chest. " I'll come and check up on you later, 'k?"

" I know." The blonde's eyes seemed to gleam a little. " Maybe we could eat here together."

She snorted, rolling her eyes. " In your dreams, Uzumaki." With that, she waved and took her leave, her heart gaining a foreign rhythm as she realized what she was heading towards. " See you later."

The journey to Sasuke's room took far longer than it should've. Once there, she stood frozen behind the door for a longest moment, almost sure that she'd never, ever manage to summon the courage to enter. But to her immense surprise, she did.

Sasuke was sitting on her bed with legs brought tightly against her chest, eyes cast towards the room's window. The raven's head snapped to side immediately as the girl heard the door being opened. For a moment, black eyes that'd gained several emotions that shouldn't have belonged to them looked straight to hers, then turned away, most likely embarrassed.

She managed a quivering smile, although Sasuke couldn't see it. " Hey. I thought I should come and see how you're doing." Her voice sounded strange and brought a sour taste into her mouth, but at least it worked.

Sasuke's eyes, staring into nothingness, darkened. " You should go, Sakura."

Her eyes sharpened and hardened as she finally regained a tiniest part of her usual self-confidence. No. She wouldn't walk out, no matter how much Sasuke wanted her to. She wasn't about to abandon her best friend like a piece of damaged goods.

Not saying a word, she took one of the books Itachi had left to the small table beside Sasuke's bed, then slowly sat beside the raven and started to read.

At first, Sasuke appeared irritated and troubled by her presence, but eventually calmed down, apparently realizing that nothing would convince her into leaving, that she could trust her. As Sakura cast a glance towards Sasuke some minutes later, she smiled a bit despite everything upon finding that the raven had fallen asleep against the pillows she'd propped herself into a sitting position with.

(It was bitterly amusing, really, that only months later she nearly held her breath with panic every time Sasuke closed her eyes and drifted into sleep, terrified she'd never see them open again.)

* * *

The next morning, Naruto woke up to a strangest sensation – quite a bit like the one that'd woken him some nights before. He groaned loudly. " This is getting really annoying."

It wasn't until then he properly registered the odd whirring inside his stomach. A frown appeared.

Blatantly ignoring the fact that Iruka and members of staff had told him to stay put for countless times, he staggered out of the bed and slowly made his way to the room's window. What he saw made him blink with surprise and something else he couldn't name.

On the parking lot right below him, a girl at his age with long, black hair was walking slowly towards a rather old-looking car, accompanied by an older boy who had his also raven, longish hair on a messy ponytail. All of a sudden, the girl's steps paused, and her head turned so that her pitch black eyes locked directly with his blue ones.

Air escaped from his lungs, and judging by the flash he could in those black pools, the girl wasn't any less affected.

Then, so suddenly he blinked with surprise, the girl turned back around and started to walk with the boy who was asking something from her, seeming worried. Naruto closed his eyes for a moment, though he had no idea of why. When he opened them again, she was gone.

He emitted a small squeak when the door behind him was all of a sudden opened. He could've sworn Iruka's eyebrow twitched a bit when the man spotted him up and about. " Naruto, do these people have to strap you to bed to make sure you rest?"

He pouted. " I've rested for ages already – I was going crazy in the bed! Besides, I'm feeling fine." Which was, for once, true. For some incomprehensible reason at that moment, he was feeling healthier than he had in years.

Iruka blinked with what looked like surprise, then smiled, seeming almost relieved. " Well, the doctors seem to agree with you. If nothing unexpected happens, you can go home tomorrow." The man revealed him a couple of paper bags. " I figured you're sick of hospital food already, so I brought you some ramen."

Naruto's entire face glowed as he grinned, those two good news making his chest heat up. He rubbed his hands together, sauntering towards his bed. " Then let's dig in. I want to be at my full strength tomorrow!"

To his surprise, Iruka turned solemn for a moment while he took out the food. " Naruto… I've been thinking…" The man cleared his throat, the topic soon to be voiced obviously painful to him. " What would you say if we moved? There's this one place nearby the hospital."

Naruto was almost shocked. Since _the event_ they'd agreed to never speak of, this was the first time Iruka even mentioned moving, leaving their current house that held so many memories he was stunned the brunette hadn't lost it yet. Soon enough, however, his usual grin took place. It was good Iruka was finally ready to let go of the past and its demons. " Yeah. I think that's a great idea." He then attacked the food. " Now let's get to the business! I'm hungry!"  
Warm smile yet again appeared to Iruka's face as they started to eat, Naruto blabbering constantly.

* * *

Outside the hospital, a sudden blow of wind picked on, as though universe itself had been awaiting with anxiety for two paths to soon tangle together…

* * *

" _True love comes quietly, without banners or flashing lights. If you hear bells, get your ears checked.__"_ (Erich Segal)

* * *

TBC?

* * *

A/N: (Heh, I'm not sure how well those two saying fit, but I just couldn't resist putting them in once I found them.)

So, there was the prologue! What do you guys say – should this story continue?

Thank you so much for reading! Please do let me hear from you! (sends HUGE, irresistible puppy-dog eyes)

Take care!


	2. Anagnorisis

A/N: Wow! It really seems you guys want to read more, so here comes chapter two! (grins)

BUT, first of all, thank you so much for all those reviews and listings! (HUUUUGS!) Gosh, I'm baffled you already believe in this story that much after seeing just a prologue! Thank you! (The responses to – hopefully – all reviews can be found from after the chappy.)

Awkay, as I'm sure you'd love to get going already… Here comes a brand new chapter! I really hope it turned out alright!

* * *

CHAPTER 2: Anagnorisis

* * *

That night, Sasuke's ears were yet again haunted by smooth whispers.

/ _" You certainly are a beautiful thing."_ /

She whimpered in her sleep.

/ _" Now, now, Sasuke-kun… You really should stop fighting."_ /

She tossed and turned, but there was no escaping.

/ _" There's nowhere to run. You're all mine."_ /

Screaming uncharacteristically at the top of her lungs she bolted into a sitting position, not quite managing to slip away from the much too vivid dream.

About a second later, the room's door was opened and Itachi peered in. " Sasuke?" Seeing how distraught she was, her older brother walked up to her after hesitating a second, and wrapped one arm around her. " Sasuke, it was just a nightmare. Everything's alright now."

Swallowing to rid the tart taste that'd come, she shook her head, at the moment unable to utter a single word.

She had absolutely no clue of for how long they'd remained like that, until such a wave of nausea swept over that her body convulsed, and she emitted a rather embarrassing groan.

She felt Itachi tense up. " Sasuke? What's wrong?"

She swallowed thickly, too embarrassed to look at her brother. " 'Tachi… I feel sick", she murmured hoarsely.

Itachi needed no further explanation. In a flash, her brother had fetched a bowl. She threw up long and hard as soon as the item was placed before her, Itachi rubbing her back in a circling motion.

" Feeling any better?" her brother asked as soon as she was done, handing her a glass of fresh, cold water.

She swallowed down the water, despite the fact that her throat felt scratchy. " Yeah." She didn't want to get Itachi any more worried than he already was. What harm could a small lie do? Before her brother could ask, she went on. " And the pain in my hip isn't as bad anymore. Apparently, Hatake's needle wasn't deadly after all."

Itachi's eyes softened. " You should go back to sleep", he stated in a half-sigh. " You're pale as a sheet, and you had big test done today. You need rest."

Nodding numbly, she settled back down, allowing her heavy eyelids to close. Just before her mind drifted into blankness, she whispered one more word subconsciously. " Sorry."  
-

As Itachi watched his sister sleep, noticed her sickly paleness in the moonlight, he felt a huge weight appearing to underneath his ribcage.

Something was deeply wrong, his brother's instincts told him. And this didn't have anything to do with what that bastard had done to Sasuke. As much of a doctor-to-be he was, he couldn't help becoming alarmed and terrified by all the tests Kakashi had ordered for his sister, the most unnerving one being a bone marrow biopsy performed earlier that day. No matter how hard he'd tried to convince Sasuke that this didn't mean she necessarily had cancer, there was nothing he could do to reassure himself. All he could do was pray that the worst option wouldn't turn out to be reality.

All of a sudden, he was alarmed out of those thoughts when Sasuke started to trash in her sleep once more, finally muttering something that made his blood turn into ice. " Orochimaru… Don't… Get off…"

Perhaps it was just a trick caused by light, but his eyes seemed to turn blood red in the darkness.

The two policemen (or rather, another one of them – Mizuki, if his memory didn't fail him) that'd showed up to interrogate Sasuke had kept tormenting his sister for what'd felt like an endless time, treating her as though she'd been the one who'd done something wrong. But eventually, they'd managed to pull out a name of the person who done this to Sasuke.

Orochimaru. Sasuke's psychiatrist, whose hands Itachi had trusted her mental health to.

The police had brought Orochimaru into questioning, but the man had refused to admit being guilty, and had even been granted an alibi by one of his other patients. Itachi bought none of it, and only Mizuki's partner's – Ibiki's – stern commands, guarding and medication had kept him from attacking the freak. They'd check out Orochimaru's DNA, they'd promised, compare it to the sample taken from Sasuke. If he were guilty, he'd be arrested immediately.

That night, looking at his sister's face, Itachi decided that he wasn't about to just sit and wait any longer. This was a problem he could actually do something about.

The next morning, he'd go to Orochimaru's office and make the bastard regret the day he'd been born.

* * *

It'd been for such a long time from the last time Ino had been in Konoha that she had to blink for several times as she walked into the dorm where several girls from her school were staying. She paid no mind to the questioning glances darted her way as she walked up the suddenly familiar stairs and towards even more familiar door.

Her roommate and friend Sakura – who was just writing to her diary, awake despite the late hour – jolted when she entered. For a moment the alarmingly worn-looking pinkette blinked with stun, then smiled brightly. " Ino! I thought you were supposed to stay in France until Christmas!"

There was a motion that felt like sinking or whirring inside her, and she was pretty sure her face paled a couple of shades. " Let's say that I had… no particular reason to stay anymore." She then decided to switch topic. She frowned upon looking at Sakura's tense, exhausted face. " And it looks like I didn't come home a second too early. What's wrong?"

Sakura flinched, and there was a flash in the girl's green eyes that chilled her. " So you haven't heard yet?" Seeing her dubious expression, the pinkette swallowed, then spoke as though the words had broken through a brick wall. " Ino, it's… it's about Sasuke. There's something you should know."

* * *

Very unusually for him, Neji was so deep in thought as he walked through the school's hallway that he didn't notice the person approaching until he bumped into her. His pale eyes flashed, and he was ready to snap until he was forced to blink a couple of times with surprise upon recognizing. " TenTen?"

Shock was an understatement in describing the look that rose to the girl's paling face as she, too, recognized. Soon enough, however, she managed to create a painfully badly faked smile. " Morning, Neji."

He wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh or roar at her.

She'd been away for several months, and that was it? That was all he was going to get?

The situation obviously becoming unbearable for her, TenTen started to take her leave, a look of utter discomfort upon her face. " I should go."

At that moment, he finally got the courage to do something he hadn't managed to do for almost a year ago. He reached out a hand and grabbed her wrist, so tightly he suspected it was enough to bring pain. " Ten…" He swallowed, trying to catch her eyes that were looking away determinedly. " Why?" _Why did you leave me? Why did you go?_

Unfortunately for him, the school bell rang just then, managing to distract him enough to allow TenTen to escape. " I really have to go", she said in a voice that was filled with apology.

And for a second time, he could do nothing but watch her back distancing from him.

* * *

Sasuke had known to expect that going back to school wouldn't be easy, and Itachi hadn't been entirely happy with her returning this soon, either. But this went past her worst nightmares.

Rumours had always had the tendency of spreading fast in her tiny hometown. And by the time she entered the school, it appeared _everyone_ knew about the hell she'd been slammed through. She could hear whispering and sensed stares as she walked through the hallway.

She was pathetically relieved when she finally reached her class. The whispers and stares didn't disappear, but at least there were less people.

" Sasuke, over here!" Sakura's voice broke through all the fuss inside her head.

Turning her gaze towards the voice of her best friend, she felt every single muscle in her body tense as she discovered that the pinkette wasn't alone. For quite a number of years, they'd had a rather tight group of five – Sakura, she, Ino, TenTen and Hinata. Although she'd most definitely never been one of the most sociable end, she'd tolerated (at times, she almost dared to say liked) their company. But at that moment, as she met their faked smiles, she would've wished for each and every single one of them to disappear.

Swallowing a sigh, she braced herself and walked up to them. " Either you stop acting like I'd be a sick puppy, or I'll get out of here." Her eyes then found TenTen and Ino, who were still looking at her somewhat funnily, and she mustered a surprisingly normal expression. " Welcome back."

There was a change in the atmosphere – tiny, but still traceable. Fighting to hide her relief, she slumped to her seat, feeling exhausted all of a sudden.

Of course, she should've known Ino wouldn't leave it there.

She jolted despite herself when the girl's arms all of a sudden wrapped tightly around her. After a moment, the girl murmured in dramatically improved French in an odd, thick tone. " _If you do something stupid like that stunt of yours ever again, I'll haunt you down and kick your sorry ass. Understood?_"

She bit back a growl. " _Fine, fine_", she snarled, also in French. " _Now let go before I'll have to smack you._"

Ino didn't hesitate to comply. Her nervous blue eyes kept glancing towards her bandaged wrists.

Fortunately, attention was ripped off of her a fragment later when Shikamaru appeared into the room (as per usual, not spending too much time glancing around). They all expected Ino to wave and call out for him – after all, they'd been dating for the past three years, and hadn't seen each other for a long time. Therefore they were surprised to discover that instead, Ino seemed to desire to sink underneath her desk and make herself as unnoticeable as possible.

Sakura darted Ino a questioning look. " Is there a particular reason to why you're avoiding your boyfriend after a long separation?"

Ino's eyes flashed – with fear, annoyance or both can only be guessed. " I'm not… avoiding anyone. I'll talk to him later."

Ino was saved from further questioning when their teacher – Anko – appeared into the class with a wide, somewhat chilling grin upon her face. " Morning, brats. Before getting started, I'd like to inform that we'll be having a new exchange-student from France with us for the upcoming year. Please, try not to torture him too much." The woman outstretched a hand. " Brats, this is Sai."

The class – mainly girls – started to murmur immediately as an undeniably good-looking boy with dark hair and eyes appeared to view.

Ino's face lost all their colour as she stared the boy stand before the class for a moment with a obviously faked smile before bowing respectfully and taking a seat. It didn't take a lot to notice how badly the girl was trembling. Sasuke's careful ears caught her whispered hiss. " Of fuck…"

Sasuke couldn't keep herself from quirking an eyebrow.

Obviously, Ino's journey to France had been quite eventful…

* * *

Itachi's world was clouded by a hue of rage-red as he marched up the stairs leading towards Orochimaru's office, each step taking far longer than it should've.

One way or another, this shit was going to end, right here and now.

The door he eventually found was, of course, locked. Gritting his teeth so tightly it hurt, he banged his fist against wood with all his might. " Orochimaru, open up right now!" he roared in a voice that didn't sound anything like his.

There was a response, but not Orochimaru's. " Itachi? What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Spinning around, eyes not completely losing the dark blaze in them, he faced Ibiki's somewhat familiar, at the moment irritation-marred scarred face. " Since you're not doing a thing, I decided to come and have a little talk with him on my own."

" Well, actually…" Ibiki showed him a paper. " We're here with a arrest-warrant. The results just came – his DNA was a perfect match with the one found from Sasuke."

He fought hard against the urge to scold.

_I could've told you that days ago!_

" I'm sorry it took us for so long, but we had to follow the protocol", Ibiki continued, voice filled with such sincerity it soothed his rage just a little.

" But now…", Mizuki stated while stepping forth. " You should get going and let the professionals take over from here."

He saw red once more. " That asshole raped my sister! There's nothing you can do to get me out of here!"

" Mizuki, let him stay", Ibiki stated, voice carrying both sympathy and annoyance. " We've already wasted enough of time as it is. Throwing him out would only cost even more."

Something extremely dark flashed in Mizuki's eyes. " Fine. But he'll better not get in the way." Those eyes weren't any less dangerous when darting towards him. " Stay in the back and be quiet, brat."

As Mizuki reached out a hand and knocked loudly, he just couldn't keep himself from pointing out. " I already tried that, detective Touji." His voice dripped with mockery. " Apparently, he hasn't been a fool enough to wait around for you to come and arrest him."

Mizuki's eyes filled with venom. " What did I say about keeping quiet?"

" If you two are ready to let go of each others' throats…" Ibiki sounded extremely bored and annoyed. Looking to side, they found he'd already managed to get the heavy door open. " … why don't we go in?"

Mizuki quirked an eyebrow. " As a policeman, I'd rather not know where you've learned to do that."

For a first time ever, Itachi agreed with the man.

With that, the group entered, Itachi quite reluctantly staying in the back.

Itachi was almost surprised to discover that there was nothing out of ordinary about the office – a huge desk, one couch, bookshelf and a mountain of papers. There was none of the freakish things he'd been expecting to find.

Bizarre expression rose to Mizuki's face. " Not a trace of him, I see."

While Mizuki rather idly started to go through the contact-lists and other papers he could find, Itachi spotted Ibiki's eyes moving; first towards the carpet below their feet (which didn't seem to sit quite normally on its place), then towards bookshelf and one particular book that was extremely shabby from its edges. Without saying a word, the man pulled the book. Mizuki jumped and he arched an eyebrow when the wall opened, revealing a completely dark room. Lighting a flashlight Ibiki entered, the two of them following.

It took Itachi a while before his eyes got used to the darkness, and when they did he felt fully ready to throw up for what he saw. The room had been emptied from whatever things or equipment it'd locked in, but apparently Orochimaru had been too busy to clean up. For despite dark he could see huge black stains of dried blood on the floor, and a sickening stench filled all of his senses, giving a much too clear image of what could've possibly happened in the room.

How the hell hadn't he noticed something was wrong before?!

Those guilt-ridden thoughts were fortunately cut short when he heard Ibiki gasp quietly. Looking towards the direction to which the man's flashlight was pointing, he felt the nausea from before multiply. For on the filthy floor, wearing clothes so thin he was shivering like a leaf, sat an unhealthily skinny boy who couldn't be older than sixteen with long, white hair and green eyes, which were currently looking at them filled with distrust.

Swallowing thickly, Ibiki kneeled to the boy's side, for a moment apparently contemplating touching but deciding against it. " Kid, it's alright. We're here to help you." He kept silent for a while, most likely wanting to give the boy a chance to take in his words. " What's your name?"

It took for a long time before the response came, and it was just barely above whisper. " Kimimaro."

Ibiki nodded, pushing a faint smile. " Okay." The man's eyes were filled with an array of emotions when darting towards Mizuki. " Call the social services. We have to get this kid out of here, right now."

* * *

The school day was far longer and more exhausting than Sasuke could've ever imagined. But eventually the torture was over.

She was just passing the school's parking lot – blatantly ignoring the rain beating her due to pounding headache – when a car pulled to a stop beside her. She looked to side as the car's door opened. It was detective Touji Mizuki. " Get on. I'll give you a ride home."

Sasuke's eyebrows furrowed with distrust, and all her muscles tensed as she prepared to defend herself. " Why should I accept anything from you?"

She could've sworn she saw something alarming behind Mizuki's bright grin. " It's pouring rain, and you've got a long way home. So hop in before you get all wet."

Making sure her cell-phone was close by, she slid to the passenger's seat, just then realizing how tired she was feeling. She frowned.

What the heck was it with this exhaustion?

After a while of silence she spoke in an extremely tense voice. " What exactly is this meeting all about? I'm assuming this isn't just a social call."

Mizuki grinned. " Sharp little thing." As the man made another turn, she made carefully sure he took the right way, relaxing slightly when discovering he did. " Itachi burst into Orochimaru's office today."

Her eyes widened dramatically, and she felt everything inside her grow cold.

_No…!_

Seeing her expression, the man went on. " Don't worry, he's fine. The reason I came is that Orochimaru was nowhere to be found."

Her eyebrow twitched. " So you guys screwed up." A shiver of disgust and something she identified as stirring terror went through her. " He's going to come after me, isn't he?"

Mizuki gave her a quick sideways glance while taking a one last turn. " Don't worry. Ibiki and I will do everything in our power to make sure you're protected."

She fought the urge to snort. _Isn't it a bit too late for that?_ " Hn." Seeing that they were by her house, she rapidly opened up the car's door and climbed out. " Thanks for the ride." With that she walked away as fast her legs carried her, her headache from before intensifying still.

She needed an aspirin, right now.

As she went, she didn't notice the trail of blood that oozed from her nose.

* * *

Although they'd lived there for such a short time, Naruto already loved the house Iruka had bought. So much he loved it, in fact, that he'd already lost count with how many times Iruka had lectured him for him exhausting himself with exploring the neighbourhood and running around.

He frowned a bit before cracking his blue eyes open when something disturbed his slumber. It took him a while to recognize the sound, and once he did he blinked with confusion.

_Music?_

Unable to fight the desire, he pushed himself up from a couch and tiptoed towards the house's door (although he knew that with Iruka's hearing, sneaking around unnoticeably was impossible). As he stopped to their yard, he discovered at once that the sound – extremely beautiful violin-music – was coming from the house located beside theirs.

Naruto had always been curious by his nature. That's why he was powerless against his urges, and started to sneak towards the house and the mysterious sound, anxious to find out what it was all about. (In a chilling way, the music was almost hypnotising.)

Paying no mind to such a obvious fact that the inhabitants most likely wouldn't find his little trespassing exactly desirable, he crossed the line to the yard of a rather small, yet cosy-looking white house.

Not pausing for even a breath to think, he entered through a backdoor someone had left hanging open. The music was much louder now. " Hello?" he called out while looking around, trying to choose to which direction he should walk down the long hallway to which he'd ended up. " Anyone in here?"

It was then his ears twitched ever so slightly, and he discovered the music was coming from his right. Grinning foxily, he started to proceed once more.

As he ended up to a surprisingly spacey room that was bathing with light, he immediately stood on his tracks, something spinning around inside him.

Standing in the middle of the room with her back towards him was a girl with long, raven hair, who was playing a violin with such smooth moves she must've been practising for pretty much all her life. He didn't know the song, but he was certain he'd never heard anything like that in his entire life.

He must've been standing there for almost a minute when the music suddenly stopped, the girl's hand frozen midair. Faster than he could run off, she'd spun around to face him. Hard as she tried to hide it, her expression held clear rage and surprise as she glared at him.

His eyes grew to a size of dinner-plates as he finally recognized the girl he'd seen in a parking lot of a hospital not too long ago.

" You!" they exclaimed together.

The girl's onyx eyes narrowed with fury she didn't even try to restrain. " You have exactly five seconds to come up with a decent excuse to why you're breaking into my home, before you'll end up your head's height shorter."  
He smirked, scratching his head sheepishly. " Your backdoor was open. I came in when I heard your music." He glanced towards her violin. He could tell it was old and had been used a lot. He then looked back at the irritated female. " That song you just played… What's it called?"

The girl's eyebrow begun to twitch dangerously.

Fortunately for Naruto (though he never realized that), a slightly older boy with longish black hair and eyes exactly like the girl's walked in just then. " Sasuke, Dr. Hatake wants to…" The boy's eyes then spotted him, and he blinked with obvious confusion. " I didn't realize you had… a friend visiting."

He could actually feel the girl – Sasuke, he now knew – seething. " He's _not_ a friend. He's leaving."

Ignoring Sasuke, he grinned. " Uzumaki, the great Uzumaki Naruto." Small hue of embarrassment rose to his cheeks. " I… sort of helped myself in when I heard Sasuke playing."

The older boy restrained a chuckle, although something extremely dark remained hidden in his eyes. " I'm Uchiha Itachi, Sasuke's brother." The boy's face then seemed to darken several shades. " Now… I'm sorry to kick you out like this, but I and Sasuke have to go now."

He nodded, waving a hand as a sign it was okay. Unable to restrain himself, he glanced towards Sasuke, who didn't seem an inch less irritated than before. " See ya later, teme."

The look Sasuke gave him made him want to run for his life.

As Naruto made his way out of the house – one half of him wanting to get away as fast as humanly possible to avoid injuries and further humiliation, the other reluctant to let him take another step away – he found his thoughts buzzing irritatingly, and his chest had gained a mind of its very own.

He growled quietly, more out of frustration than anything else. " Stupid teme."

But despite all, he already knew this wasn't his last visit to the house.

-

As soon as Naruto was gone, Itachi smiled a bit. " Now that certainly was an interesting kid."

Sasuke – apparently choosing to switch topic – gave him a hard look. " Mizuki gave me a ride home today." Her tone carried threat. " He said you visited Orochimaru's office."

He winced. " I was afraid you'd find out about that one."

Sasuke's eyes were burning – more with anger or worry, it was impossible to tell. " What the hell were you thinking?!" He'd never seen her this heated before. " What if he'd been there and attacked you? That bastard is a monster – stay as far away from him as possible, understood?"

He couldn't help smiling just a little at his sister's worry. " Stop worrying about me, Sasuke", he commanded in a gentle tone. " That's big brothers' task."

" Hn." Turning her back towards him so he couldn't see her face, Sasuke placed her violin gently to a nearby table, then started to take her leave. " I'll go and get my jacket."

* * *

Iruka – having finished a phone call – just managed to wipe his eyes when Naruto barged in. Despite a rush of emotions he was amused, and even relieved, upon discovering the fiery look upon his foster son's face. It felt incredibly good to see Naruto crackling with life like that. " What's wrong?"

The blonde teen snorted. " A word of advice: never visit our new neighbours without being called first. That teme might end up biting your head off." With that, the boy disappeared into his new room. Iruka didn't dare to even start guessing what the boy had been talking about.

Feeling a spark of curiosity, he glanced out of the window only a small distance away upon hearing noises. He almost smiled upon seeing an undeniably attractive girl with long, raven hair walking slowly across the year of the house beside theirs, then hop into a car.

Apparently, Naruto was growing up a lot faster than he'd ever anticipated. He wasn't sure if was relieved, saddened or terrified by the fact.

* * *

Once she'd entered Kakashi's office with Itachi, Sasuke had immediately realized something was deeply wrong from the stiffness and sadness of the man's greeting. And those suspicions were confirmed when the man started to make questions.

" You've told me you've been feeling exhausted for a while. Has grown worse lately?"

She nodded reluctantly, hating to admit such weakness. " Yeah, I suppose." Though she was pretty sure it was because of badly slept nights and stress.

Kakashi nodded as well, making some notes with a constantly darkening expression. It took a moment before the man went on. " Have you experienced pain in your back and legs?"

She frowned as she was forced to deliver another nod, her body growing completely tense and starting to tremble. " What are these questions all about? Does this have something to do with the bone marrow biopsy?" She licked her lips, her mouth feeling impossibly dry. " What the hell is wrong with me?"

The doctor's eyes carried something incredibly dark and sad as they looked at them both, finally locking to hers with apparent reluctance and fight. " Sasuke… You have leukemia. And… As far as we've been able to investigate, it's very aggressive type."

It felt like someone had pulled the entire world from underneath her, all air was stolen from her lungs, making her weak and dizzy. It took a longest time before she was finally able to utter. " But… You can help me. Right? With treatment… it's curable."

But the misery thickening in Kakashi's eyes ripped away all of her hope. The man could obviously just barely look at her. " I'm so sorry, but… It's progressed very far, and as I said, it's aggressive." The man swallowed. " I… I'm sorry."

Those words were the last ones Sasuke heard, although Kakashi kept speaking. Her legs just about failing her, she forced herself up from her chair and scrambled out of the room, the only sound fitting into her ears the rushing of her blood.

As she fell in front of a toilet and threw up loudly, tears running down her cheeks without her even noticing it, she wasn't sure if she would've wanted to laugh or cry at the bitter irony.

Only a while ago, she'd tried to kill herself to get rid of the shadow looming on her tails. But now…

Now, she would've given anything – absolutely anything – if she'd been allowed to keep living.

-

After Sasuke's departure, it was very, very silent for a longest time, until Itachi – his head absolutely, utterly overrun by all that'd been thrown at him – found it from him to be able to speak. " Dr… Dr. Hatake…" He swallowed, unable to bring himself to look at the man. " How... How long does Sasuke have?" He knew it was something he shouldn't have asked, but he needed to know.

Kakashi hesitated for a very long time before there was a silent response. " Even with the most optimistic estimations… Less than a year." The man was silent for a while, watching his guilt-ridden expression. " Itachi… There's no way you could've know. You do know that, right?"

He was unable to react to those words in any way whatsoever, let alone believe them. Again, it took time before he could speak. " Excuse me…" With that he, too, left the room.

As he walked down the hallways, he had absolutely no idea of where he was going. There was only chaos inside his head.

Sasuke… She was… She was going to… going to die.

In less than a year… He'd lose Sasuke, too. His little sister was going to die.

That horrendous thought consuming all of him, he leaned against a wall, wanting nothing more than to just crumble down and disappear.

Everything spinning around in his head, Itachi found each and every ounce of strength seeping out of him, and without realizing it he'd slid to the cold, hard floor, trembling like a pathetic leaf in the grips of a wind.

He had absolutely no idea of for how long he'd been there when Sakura's familiar voice came to his ears. " Itachi?" He couldn't turn his head to look at her, but soon enough she'd walked up to his view. There was a look of deep worry in her green eyes. " Itachi, what's wrong?" Pieces then connecting, most of her colour faded. " It's… It's Sasuke, isn't it?"

His mouth just wouldn't work for him, not that he would've found the words, anyway. So instead of speaking he just closed his eyes, as though that would've made things better. Would've made this nightmare end.

Still too tired and numb to speak, he found himself giving a surprising sigh of relief when Sakura wrapped her arms tightly around him, pulling him close.

As he leaned his head against her shoulder, it occurred to him that this was probably exactly what the end of the world was supposed to feel like.

* * *

That workday was most definitely the longest one Kakashi had ever had during his entire career.

Eventually – after he'd been staring into nothingness for several minutes when he should've been doing paperwork, deep in thought – Shizune's voice broke through to him. " Kakashi, you should go home." The woman gave him a look of sympathy, obviously knowing that this time he wasn't just trying to avoid doing paperwork. " Your shift would end in an hour, anyway. There's no need to torture you any longer."

Flashing the woman a look of gratitude, he pushed himself up from his chair. " I'll see you tomorrow."

Shizune merely waved a hand as response.

The hospital was bigger than he'd remembered, but eventually he was almost out. That was, until something caught his attention.

He wasn't sure if his heart was closer to melting or breaking as he his steps paused in one of the hospital's lower floors, his eyes settling to an unexpected sight they'd caught.

Slumped to a long chair in a visiting room, Sasuke had fallen asleep while leaning against Itachi's side, her head fallen against his shoulder so that dark bangs covered her face. Itachi, as response, had wrapped one arm around her, and was currently staring at nothing in particular with glazed eyes while stroking her hair.

Usually, he wouldn't advice a patient in Sasuke's condition to leave the hospital before several sessions of intense treatment, but now… Could he really be that cruel?

After debuting for a moment, he started to walk again and slowly entered the room. In a flash Itachi's dark eyes filled with hardness as he heard unfamiliar steps, but calmed down when recognizing him.

He managed a small, sad smile. " How about if I'd take you home? You're obviously in no condition to drive."

At first, Itachi seemed ready to argue, but eventually nodded, obviously too exhausted to fight. Not a word was said while the boy easily gathered Sasuke into his arms (with the girl moaning a protest, but not awakening) and they walked away, leaving the building behind for the time being.

* * *

While washing dishes, Iruka felt deeply amused while listening to Naruto growling and hissing at his math book. " I'm never going learn this! I swear, this stuff is meant for rocket scientists or geniuses!"

He chuckled. " I teach those on a daily basis, Naruto. They're hardly planned for prodigies."

He could actually feel Naruto's soar look, although he didn't see the teen. " You stay out of this."

Naruto kept muttering something about setting his math book on fire, but he didn't hear it, because something else entirely caught all of his attention.

His eyes widened radically while staring at a car that drove down a road right in front of their house – or more precisely the silver-haired man inside the vehicle.

_Kakashi?_

No way… There was no way in hell fate could be that cruel…

He didn't notice he'd dropped a plate until a loud crash was heard, and he winced when shards slashed his palm without any mercy. Drops of red fell to the dishwater.

Alarmed by the sound, Naruto called out. " Iruka? Is everything okay?"

He swallowed thickly, the image of that much too familiar face still imprinted to his mind. " Yeah. I just managed to get a scratch."

Naruto, who'd appeared to the doorway, seemed somewhere between worried and amused when spotting his injury. " And they say _I'm_ clumsy." The teen started to leave. " I'll go and get some bandages."

He barely heard, his mind buzzing.

That face… He hoped from the bottom of heart he'd been seeing things.

He'd managed to escape and avoid for ten years already. His sanity would never last it all falling down on him again now.

* * *

Later that evening, Naruto was yet again pulled out of his slumber by something. Not bothering to even wonder what it was all about, he got out of his bed and sneaked towards downstairs. (With Iruka having gone for a long walk, he had a golden opportunity to sneak out without facing worried questions afterwards.)

Eventually, he found his way outside. His steps were halted when he discovered Sasuke sitting on a grass that was most definitely still moist from the rain that'd poured down earlier that day. Moonlight was caressing her dark hair and even darker eyes.

He felt something extremely heavy and dark appearing into his chest as he recognized the expression. He'd held the exact same one when he'd been five-years-old, and doctors had explained to him that his heart would eventually bail on him.

Before he knew it, he was moving. " Sasuke?"

The girl tensed up completely, but didn't turn to look at him. The response was delayed. " I'd really suggest you to leave now."  
Sure enough, he wasn't the smartest one around. But even he knew better than to leave the girl alone at the moment. So, blatantly ignoring her former words, he walked up to her, taking a seat beside her on the still slightly moist grass.

They sat in silence (from his part content, from Sasuke's irritated) before he found himself speaking, his eyes having travelled to the stars above them. " Sometimes, when I'm not too tired, I sit on my bed for hours and stare at those."

Once again, Sasuke took her time before answering grumpily. She still wouldn't look at him. " That's kinda foolish, dobe. You can't see them properly through a window."  
Refusing to become discouraged, he grinned. " I can't stay out for too long – I get sick easily. Besides, no window's kept me from seeing the shooting stars." He took a quick glimpse towards Sasuke, pleased to discover she wasn't as tense as before. " They're the best thing in the sky, you know, even though they only last for a second."

Sasuke snorted. " You really are a dobe."

Once more, comfortable silence lingered as they both sunk deep into their thoughts. And yet again, it was Naruto who broke it. " Bach, Sonata No. 1."

She blinked uncharacteristically, glancing towards him. " What?"

He smirked victoriously. " That song you played earlier. Bach, Sonata No. 1."

She arched an eyebrow. " How did you find that out?"

His grin turned into a mysterious one. " You're not the only one has a thing for music."

Sasuke snorted again, not smiling but threateningly close to it. " You have far too much free time, dobe."

His grin didn't fade, didn't even falter. " Bastard."

In a spur of a moment, Naruto found his hand moving ever so slowly, finally clasping around Sasuke's. The girl tried to wiggle away from his hold at first, but seeing that nothing worked she relaxed, the hand in his trembling just a little.

Neither said a word as they kept gazing towards the stars, trying to catch a shooting one (although Sasuke would've never admitted having reduced to such a childish thing).

* * *

In a town not too far from Konoha, moon's glow on a huge house's walls was almost eerie as two sets of steps walked up squeaky stairs, then followed a long, dark hallway for a moment before stopping to a door. A hand didn't tremble a slightest as it reached out and opened the lock. The door's screech was almost enough to wipe away the voice that spoke. " I'm sorry about the condition of this place, Orochimaru-sama, but this was the best I could do at such short notice."

The said man waved a hand while entering the room. " It's quite alright, Kabuto", responded a voice that was smoother than velvet, deviously calm. " After all, I won't be staying here for long."

Kabuto knew he was pushing his limits, but he just had to ask. " What are you going to do next?"

Orochimaru's chilling smile revealed a perfect row of white teeth. " First, I wait. Then, I'll show Sasuke-kun just how foolish she was thinking she could escape from me."

The slash inside Kabuto was dangerously close to jealousy. He had to compose himself for a long moment before he could speak with his casual tone. " Do you have any further requests for tonight?"

Orochimaru shook his head. " No, thank you." The man grabbed the door handle. " Goodnight, Kabuto." The door was closed at his face.

For a longest moment he stood there, as though expecting the man to change his mind, until he turned around slowly and walked away.

* * *

TBC??

* * *

A/N: (sniffles) Poor Sasuke – and Naruto, too! And that bastard Orochimaru is still out there plotting. (hisses) (Btw, what is it with me and year's time limit?)

So, what do you guys think? Is this still worthy of continuing? Please do let me hear from you! (gazes with impossibly huge, adorable pleading eyes) This story is quite different from anything I've ever written before, so I'm a bit nervous. (smirks somewhat nervously) (In case you'd want a next chapter… In there, the 'dance' –part of the fic's title would find its meaning. Also, Gaara would show up to stir things up a bit…)

That's all for now, folks! Thank you so much for reading – once more, I really hope you enjoyed!

Be good!

* * *

**Kai's kitty**: Poor Sasu-chan indeed! (huggles, avoiding Chidori and swinging fists) Gosh, I completely agree with you – thank goodness she has Ita-kun for support! (I'm so glad you liked protective Ita-kun. I just couldn't resist writing him in as such!)

Lol, I couldn't resist making Kaka-san a doctor once I had the chance! I bet you're right – he DEFINITELY reads his… _books_ during breaks.

You can't wait for Sasu-chan and Naru-chan to fall in love, hmm? (smirks mysteriously) Oh yes, we're most certainly getting there.

Thank you so much for the review! I really hope I'll be seeing you around.

(squels with delight) (Yay – there's a flag with my name on it!)

-

**DarkMiko13**: I must confess that the idea of pregnancy did cross my mind, but I ended up deciding against it. I think poor Sasu-chan has enough to deal with already. (huggles the poor thing)

Oh yes, you definitely hit the nail with your suspicions as to who raped her. (grits teeth with vehemence) I really hope I'll be able to give that bastard the hardest possible punishment. (hisses)

Huge thank yous for reviewing! I hope I'll be seeing you around.

-

**Belladonna-Isabella**: (blushes beat-red) You're already a fan of this story already? And I actually had you reading a FEMSasu-fic? WOW! (jumps around with joy)

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the absolutely amazing review – I'm so proud you liked the chapter, let alone that much! I really hope you'll keep liking the story.

-

**VyseN**: Goodness, I have no idea of where to start! (chuckles) You seem to have a habit to make me speechless. (Believe me, that was a huge compliment!)

First of all, I'm so glad you've liked the character setting so far! I've had a lot of fun imagining where they all belong to in this AU-Konoha of mine. (snickers) (Oh yes, there really is a bunch of 'before the story began' –stories to be told. I can't wait to get to them, not to mention to hear what you think of them!) And I'm proud beyond words you're already interested with the fic, especially considering it's different from what you usually read! And, of course, I'm glad the text is grammatically at least somewhat correct. That's something I'm always worried about. (makes back flips with joy)

Goodness, the themes in this fic you mentioned indeed arouse a lot of emotions! This has most definitely been a challenge to write, and I'm waiting with curiosity and sweat on my forehead for how it'll turn out. But indeed, the creation of this will most definitely be both emotional and interesting. (grins)

Massive thank yous for the bewildering review – I'm ecstatic to think the start out was good job! (smirks) See you around, yeah?

-

**Selene98**: So I'm not the only one who thinks nice Itachi makes more sense than evil one! I was itching to write a 'good-Itachi' –fic, especially after the latest manga-chapters.

Enormous thank yous for the review – I'm so glad you liked the beginning! I really hope you'll keep liking the story.

-

**shirilyle**: So long as there are readers waiting for a new chapter, this story will most certainly continue. (grins)

Thank you so much for the review – I'm so glad you liked the start out! Stick around, yeah?

-

**realityfling18**: (face turns beat-red) You actually think I have good writing skills! Woo-ah – thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Massive thank yous for absolutely incredible review – I can't even begin to describe how proud I am you liked the beginning, not to even mention that much! I really hope you'll keep liking the story.

-

**ana-pj**: Thank you so much for the review – I'm so glad you consider the beginning interesting! I really hope I'll be seeing you around.

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**GenMcvile**: Huge thank yous for the review – I'm so happy you liked the beginning! See ya around, yeah?

-

**DeathRow609**: Thank you so much for the review – I don't think I even have to mention how glad I am you liked the start out! I really hope this chapter was worth being looked forward to.

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**RainbowHeart**: (grins) Yes, sir – so long as there are people out there looking forward to a new chapter, this will most definitely continue.

Enormous thank yous for the review! I really hope you'll keep enjoying the story.


	3. Heart’s Melodies

A/N: Guess what, folks? Ready or not, the new chapter is now here! (makes back flips with joy) I've got too rather huge exams looming around, so I'm beyond baffled I actually got this done. (collapses out of exhaustion)

But hey, first things first. Thank you SO MUCH for those amazing reviews! (HUGS) You can't even imagine how valuable you are. (The responses to reviews SHOULD BE found from underneath the chappy.)

Awkay, as I can imagine you'd rather read on than have me rambling, let's get to the business! I REALLY hope you'll like this new chapter!

DISCLAIMER: The songs in this chapter are "Ain't it funny" from Jennifer Lopez and "Smooth" from Santana feat Rob Thomas. Me no own. (sighs miserably)

* * *

CHAPTER 3: Heart's Melodies

* * *

/ _Itachi didn't realize he'd fallen asleep in the school's library until he woke up to his cell-phone's unnaturally loud bleeping._

_Making a sleepy sound while trying to blink himself awake, he picked up. " Hmmh?"_

_There was something that sounded like a strangled sob, followed by a distant noise of something breaking. It seemed to take ages before voice came. " _'T-Tachi, father… He…_" Sasuke's voice was barely a whisper. " _I… I think he's going to hurt mother._"_

_He was fully awake in an instant, his face turning whiter than chalk. " Sasuke, what's going on?"_

_This time, there was definitely a sob. " _Y – You… You have to call the police, right now._"_

_Before he could utter another word, there was a bang that sounded deafeningly loud even to him. The scream (or rather screech) Sasuke gave became imprinted into his nightmares forever._

_He started to tremble uncontrollably. " Sasuke!"  
The line went dead._

" _SASUKE!"_ /

* * *

Itachi jolted awake from his nightmare when a gentle hand was all of a sudden placed to his shoulder. It took a while before he managed to distinguish Kakashi's face through blur and calmed down. " Sasuke's treatment session is over", the man explained in an oddly soft tone. " She'll feel nauseous for a while, but she can go home."

He nodded, feeling ashamed for having fallen asleep despite the fact that he'd barely slept for several nights.

He was grateful Kakashi respected his unvoiced desire for silence as they walked through the hallway, finally entering a room. No matter how many times he'd heard it during the past weeks, Itachi felt his heart wrench due to the sound of Sasuke throwing up in a toilet.

Not saying a word, he walked up to his sister and laid a comforting hand to her shoulder. She flinched at first, but upon recognizing him seemed to calm down. They didn't notice as Kakashi left, apparently deciding to give them some privacy.

Neither knew for how long exactly had passed until Sasuke's stomach finally calmed down and she spoke in a scratchy tone. " I'm fine now. I can go to school today." Before he could utter a single word of protest, the girl cast him a warning glance. " And don't give me that look. I have to go to school. Besides, this is a short day. I can handle it."

No matter how much he disagreed, he knew there was no point in starting out an argument with Sasuke when she was like this. So, instead, he helped her up and wrapped a tender arm around her shoulders. " Let's go home, 'k?"

It wasn't until Sasuke actually responded to his hold did he realize just how sick his sister was feeling.

As they walked on slowly, with Sasuke shuddering from cold and nausea, he figured that he'd never felt that helpless in his entire life. And he had a bad feeling that this was only just beginning.

* * *

Naruto's thoughts were entirely elsewhere than the schoolbook before him as he sat cross-legged on his bed, the tasks Iruka had assigned for him long ago forgotten. All that fit into his head were the hushed words he'd heard his doctor – a rather old man he'd found himself liking from beginning named Jiraiya – had spoken to Iruka while visiting quite late the night before, with him having suffered from chest pains.

/ _" Right now, he's in a pretty good condition – amazingly good, considering his condition. But…" Goodness, the man's voice had been filled with so much pain! " I can't lie to you, Iruka. Very soon, he'll start to feel a lot worse. And then…" There'd been a long, heavy pause. " I… __I'm__ not sure __if any medication will__ be __enough__ to…" The rest had faded away._ /

He sniffed, immediately hating himself for it.

He wasn't going to die, damnit – not after having fought for his entire life! He was going to survive until he'd get a transplant.

He wouldn't die. He couldn't.

All of a sudden, his dark thoughts vanished as a very familiar sound drifted into his ears from open window.

_Violin music…_

For a long moment he just listened, completely mesmerized, until a certain foolish thought came to him. It didn't take him too long to find the guitar Iruka had bought to him the year he'd appeared into the man's life, saying he needed something for his mind to work with.

Even though he hadn't played for a while, his fingers still remembered exactly what to do. Careful at first, he let out a couple of tones, then started to play, his music blending smoothly with Sasuke's softer one.

For a moment he heard the girl stop playing – obviously having heard his music – then felt himself grin as she started again, as though accepting his intruding. This time their music mixed together even further, creating something so beautiful that he'd never heard such. They had no trouble keeping up with each other. It was as though every tone, every last movement of fingers, had been planned and rehearsed in beforehand.

Although they must've been playing for a long time, he felt disappointed when Sasuke's violin suddenly faded away, his guitar sounding ridiculously hollow alone. Fighting off a sound of disappointment, he put away his precious instrument. Maybe there'd be more of this later.

He jumped a bit when hearing a somewhat cautious knock from his door. After having recovered from the shock for a while, he cleared his throat. " Yeah?"

A wide grin that went from ear to ear appeared as a very familiar red-haired boy who'd grown up a lot from when they'd last met appeared. He jumped up and hugged the other tightly, ignoring the redhead's discomfort. " Gaara, it's about time you show up!" He then frowned. " Where were you yesterday? Weren't you supposed to come after sorting things out with your foster parents?"

Gaara cast an apologetic look towards him while closing the door. There was an almost sad look in the boy's eyes. " I'm sorry. Being back in Konoha is just… harder than I'd expected."

Naruto's eyes filled with sadness, as he understood just how many difficulties Gaara must've faced already. In a moment, something close to anger appeared.

It'd already been ten years from those events, and Gaara had spent most of that time in a mental institution (much owing to idiotic people). How much longer would the redhead have to suffer for something that wasn't even his fault?

Soon, however (knowing how much Gaara hated pity), he grinned brightly. They hadn't seen each other in years, having communicated only through letters. This was no time to brood. " So… What time's the school going to start? I bet you're excited." He knew he would be.

But the emotions lingering on Gaara's face weren't anywhere close to excitement. The redhead took an almost miserable look towards clock. " At eleven. The teachers were busy with something, so the morning's lessons were postponed." The boy's eyes travelled to his extremely dishevelled schoolbook, and something close to mirth appeared into them. " I see you're busy with schoolwork as well."

He scoffed. " Yeah, right. I'd need a professor's degree to get through those." He then decided to switch topic. " Hey, what about Temari and Kankurou? Are they back in Konoha, too?" He'd met Gaara's siblings for a few times, years ago. It would've been great to see them again.

" Temari's back, too." Gaara's eyes darkened just slightly, which went unnoticed by him. " Kankurou wanted to stay in Tokyo, though. He… wasn't exactly thrilled by the idea of coming here."

He shrugged, a grin yet again appearing. " Well, I'm glad you came back, at least. It's been pretty boring here without you around." He then cast a nasty look towards the window and the familiar house beside theirs. " Or well, was before Sasuke-teme decided to show up."

Gaara seemed to jolt. " Sasuke? Was she that girl playing a violin?"

" Yeah." For some odd reason, he had hard time keeping his emotions in check. " Apparently, she thinks she can play or something."

That couldn't possibly be a blush he saw, could it? " I think it was beautiful."

He snorted. He liked Sasuke's music, but that didn't mean he'd have to admit it. " Yeah, whatever." He took a peek towards the clock. " Hey, it's only ten, and I seriously need a break from studying. Do you wanna have juice or something?" They hadn't spoken in years. They deserved this much.

Gaara nodded after a moment, a small, cautious smile appearing. " Alright."

As they walked downstairs, he could hear Iruka muttering something that sounded a lot like cursing. It surprised him – he'd never heard his foster-father use harsh language before. (Quite easily, he came to a conclusion that it had a lot to do with the man's talk with Jiraiya the night before.)

They entered Iruka's office-room to find the man rummaging through drawers. " Have you lost something?" he inquired, curious as always.

The brunette sighed, back still to him. He could've sworn he saw the man's shoulders quiver. " Just… some papers. I must've forgotten them to school."

Seeing this as a golden opportunity, he grinned. " I can go and get them." As an afterthought, he hurried to add. " The school isn't that far off, anyway. It wouldn't take long."

Iruka still wouldn't look at him. " Naruto, you heard the doctor. You shouldn't strain yourself too much."

He pouted, disregarding the fact that Iruka didn't see him. " Iruka!" he whined. " The school's only two blocks away! Besides, I'm going crazy locked inside here."

Apparently seeing his distress, Gaara spoke. " I can walk him there, Iruka-sama. I'll make sure he won't work too hard."

-

Now, Iruka finally looked at them, mainly Naruto. A knot of something he'd never experienced before appeared into his chest.

There was nothing he would've wanted more than to protect Naruto – to keep him safe and inside, to make sure he'd stay as healthy as possible – but he couldn't steal away the whatever time the boy had left. Jiraiya's words resumed in his ears.

/ _" No one really knows for how long he has, Iruka. If he gets a transplant – which, unfortunately, doesn't seem like a probable option – he'll have even decades, but if he doesn't… You have to let him enjoy of this year he has left. Otherwise you'll never forgive yourself."_ /

He smiled warmly to Gaara despite all. " There's no need for you to do that. He can come there on his own when he's finished with homework." He then cast Naruto a stern look. " But no stupidities. You'll come home as soon as possible."

Naruto nodded eagerly. " Yeah, of course." The obviously excited blonde grabbed Gaara's hand, starting to pull the redhead out of the room. " He never told me not to walk you into school. You can tell me all about Tokyo on the way."

" I heard that!" he half-snarled in a warning tone, unable to cover all amusement.

* * *

As she entered the school, it took Sasuke's all to convince herself into walking forward and keeping down constantly threatening waves of nausea as she sauntered through the hallways with Hinata and TenTen.

At the moment, she could only wonder what the hell she'd been thinking when coming to school practically straight after yet another treatment session.

To get her thoughts into anything else, she forced herself to listen to her friends. " … t-talk to N-Neji, Ten-Ten", Hinata pointed out, seeming deeply troubled. " H-He's been w-waiting for the answers f-for so long, and I'm s-sure he still l-loves you. Y-You should t-tell him, e-even if y-you're not t-telling us."

A look of anxiety rose to TenTen's face. She refused to meet Hinata's eyes. " I really wish it was that simple, but I… I can't. I…"

She became interrupted when a loud thud suddenly echoed through the hallway. In an instant it became completely silent as the scene unfolding caught everyone's attention.

Not too far away, a red haired boy Sasuke didn't remember seeing ever before was stood by lockers, his trembling fists clenched and (judging by the dangerous gleam in his eyes) fully ready to strike. A fallen book was laying forgotten by his feet. Right in front of him, oblivious to the danger he was in, another boy who looked surprisingly lot like a rat sneered at the smaller one. " Watch where you're going, _freak_", the rat-boy commanded in an extremely sickening tone. Although the redhead seemed fully ready to kill, the idiot went on. " People like you aren't wanted around here. You'll better watch your back." With that he walked off, leaving the silently seething redhead under everyone's ogling.

It wasn't hard to hear the not exactly hushed whispered that suddenly erupted all around. " Don't you know that kid?"

" He's the one who killed his uncle", another voice continued the story.

" They say it was self defence, but I'm not buying it", a third voice announced, filled with something so close to disgust it infuriated her.

" Look at that freak", one more voice huffed. " I bet he could kill someone, even a relative. I mean, he even attacked all those people…"

Seeing red, she cast ice-cold, nearly murderous glares at the murmuring people who grew silent in an instant (that one look speaking far louder than any words), then gazed towards surprised-looking TenTen and Hinata. " I'll see you after the class." With that she walked up to the boy who was staring at her with bewilderment.

Not saying a word, she picked up the boy's book (noting that it was a English book) and handed it to him. It wasn't until he'd taken it did she speak. " Just follow me." Her tone was oddly scratchy, most likely strained by her treatment. " I'll show to the English class."

Nodding with gratitude that showed despite obvious resistance, Gaara obeyed.

They'd almost reached their destination when Gaara spoke. " What's your name?"

She found herself debuting for a moment before replying. " Sasuke." She cast a sideways glance towards him as they were only a step away from the class. " Yours?"

It took a while before the boy spoke. " Gaara."

As they entered the class, she had a feeling the boy would've wanted to say something more, but became cut off by Ino's voice. " Sasuke, over here!"  
She grit her teeth, steeling herself. She would've given a lot if she could've just gone home and crawled to bed, but for now she'd just have to hang on. At least she didn't have to do a lot talking with Ino around.

She gave Gaara a one last glance. " I'll see you later." Receiving a nod of recognition, she walked off.

As she walked over to Ino and slumped to her seat, she was too deep in thought and focused on maintaining at least somewhat normal expression to feel Gaara's bemused eyes following her.

* * *

Saisha Hyuuga had been a social worker for more years than she could keep up with. But never in her career had she faced another case that would've affected her this much.

" Are you absolutely sure about this?" her boss – Tsunade – asked in a nearly disbelieving tone.

She nodded, watching through glass as Kimimaro sat on his bed, gazing longingly towards window while hugging his legs, brought firmly to his chest. " He's been in a hospital for almost three weeks already. And we both know how hard it is to find a proper home for teenagers, let alone for one in his mental condition."

" It's not going to be easy", Tsunade pointed out. " He won't let anyone even touch him, and he keeps saying Orochimaru will come and take him home. And you saw how forcefully he protects himself."

" I know. But…" Her eyes filled with sadness upon discovering such in the boy's defeated green ones. " He doesn't have anyone. Or anything, for the matter. He needs a proper home."

Tsunade's eyebrow rose as the older obviously caught she wasn't talking about offering a temporary place to stay anymore, but the woman didn't sound her discovery. " What about Hiashi and your kids? Do they know about this?"

She fought the urge to wince. " Yes. I told them yesterday."

Tsunade caught on. " I presume Hiashi wasn't exactly overjoyed."

" No, he wasn't", she responded dryly, her eyes then filling with determination. " But he'll learn to accept Kimimaro. He's no monster – he knows this is the right thing to do." With that, she started to make her way towards the hospital room's door. " But now… Since the doctor already discharged him, I'll better go and help him get ready."

Tsunade nodded. ' Good luck', the woman's eyes said loudly and clearly although she didn't speak a word. ' You'll need it.'

Her chest twigged painfully when Kimimaro jumped with fright as she entered the room. Despite the whirr inside, she offered him a small smile. " Good morning, Kimimaro."

She couldn't help feeling a bang of sadness when the boy's eyes swept towards the empty space behind her, filling with disappointment and something close to heartbreak when spotting no one. His words from much earlier echoed in her ears.

/ _" I don't understand. __He said he wouldn't leave me. Where is he?"_ /

She was relieved beyond belief that she could finally give him something else to think about. She offered him a pile of clothes. " I brought you some clothes – my nephew is about your size." Seeing his confusion and gratitude mixed look, she went on. " You can finally leave this place. I'm taking you to my house."

Kimimaro blinked with utter confusion, obviously not used to generosity like this. Overcoming his stupor, the boy gave a small, almost shy bow. " Thank you, Hyuuga-sama."

She just had to chuckle. " How many more times do I have to tell you it's Saisha?" Seeing his embarrassed expression, she smiled softly. " Now why don't you get dressed up? The sooner you're ready, the sooner you'll get out of here."

Kimimaro nodded, seeming somewhat uncertain, before getting out of the bed, taking the pile she'd brought and strolling towards the toilet to get changed.

* * *

Fair enough, Naruto's intention had been to simply get Iruka's papers and walk right out of the school. But like so many times before in history, he found himself being held back by something extremely interesting that caught his curious nature.

From a huge hall, he could hear voice speaking. As he stopped to the doorway, he found quite a sizeable, more or less enthusiastic looking group of students and two teachers; a woman with shortcut purple hair and a constantly smiling black-haired man dressed in green with the weirdest haircut he'd ever seen.

The woman spoke, seeming mischievous. " Alright then, brats. Welcome to the obligatory dancing class. I'm fairly sure some of you are here to get an easy grade." Her gaze swept towards some particular students, who immediately blushed with humiliation and looked away. " I can immediately enlighten you that you shouldn't expect anything such. If you want a grade, you'll work hard for it." Seeming to enjoy of the groans she heard, the woman went on. " And, you'll start right away. Form a circle, boys out and girl in, then take the eighth pair that crosses your path. Let's see what you've got."

-

It didn't take Anko's careful eyes long to spot an intruder observing her class. She kept watching as the blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy started to sneak inside.

" We should escort him out", Gai pointed out from beside her. " He's not one of our student."

To even her own surprise, she shook her head. " Let's let him stay. That's Iruka's kid – he'll be no trouble." A dangerous smirk appeared, and her face filled with amusement. " Besides, this may become interesting."

-

Unable to resist the urge, Naruto found himself taking his own place in the circle, careful to avoid looking at the teachers. His heart was beating a bit too fast as he counted.

Three… Six… Eight…

He felt this oddest spin inside as the eighth person stopped in front of him. It was Sasuke.

The raven emitted a loud growl. " You've gotta be kidding me", she groaned, seeming almost suspicious. " What are you doing here, anyway? You don't even go to this school."

He smirked mischievously. " You know I have a bad habit of sneaking around."

Sasuke rolled her eyes as he wrapped his arms clumsily around her. " I don't understand why they haven't thrown you out already."

He gave the girl a sour look. " They're probably waiting for you to kill me."

Her obsidian eyes flashed as they spun around for a first time, testing each other. " Don't tempt me, dobe."

Naruto would've lied saying he knew exactly what he was doing when his arms wrapped quite awkwardly a bit more tightly around Sasuke. More out of instinct than anything else he pulled her closer (too close, her stormy expression told him).

Sasuke's eyes flashed fire. " Sneak that hand of yours an inch lower and you'll lose it", she hissed, so close that her breath lingered on his skin, causing a warm, tingling sensation.

He snorted. " Don't flatter yourself, teme." Inside his head, though, he made a mental note to keep his hands in line.

* * *

/ _**Estoy  
Loca  
Enamorada  
De ti**_ /

* * *

Neither noticed the music even started as they continued to move, at first looking more like they'd been challenging each other than actually dancing. But quite soon, closeness started to do its tricks on them both, and their moves melted suavely together. For that one song, the rest of the reality meant nothing.

At the moment, there were no illnesses, no time limits, and most definitely no death. No pain or sorrow. Finally, they weren't just patients.

Naruto could've never imagined moving around could possibly feel as good as dancing did then. His heart was beating madly, and he knew that inevitably it'd start to hurt like hell in not too long, but at the moment none of that mattered a slightest.

* * *

/ _**It seemed to be like the perfect thing for you and me  
It's so ironic you're what I had pictured you to be  
But there are facts in our lives  
We can never change  
Just tell me that you understand and feel the same  
This perfect romance that I've created in my mind  
I'd live a thousand lives  
Each one with you right by my side  
But yet we find ourselves in a less than perfect circumstance  
And so it seems like we'll never have the chance**_ /

* * *

In a spur of a moment, following some voice deep inside, he found himself taking a firmer hold on Sasuke, and before she got a chance to even scold he'd bent her down, so that her head was mere inches from stone hard floor.

Onyx eyes smouldered while looking into his. " Drop me, dobe, and you're dead."

He just had to chuckle at that one. " Don't encourage me, teme."

With those words – deciding that Sasuke had suffered well enough – he repositioned his hands and pulled her back up. It wasn't until too late he yet again realized how thin she was and he'd used too much force. Their breaths became hitched for various reasons when she was slammed right against his chest, with their faces only a millimetre apart.

Little as he liked to admit it, he'd never felt an urge to lean down that strong. (Had he not been so worked up, he would've noticed how Sasuke shuddered in his hold.)

* * *

/ _**Ain't it funny how a moment could just change your life  
And you don't wanna face what's wrong or right  
Ain't it strange how fate can play a part  
In the story of your heart**_ /

* * *

Hard as he tried, Shikamaru didn't remember seeing his first, blonde-haired dancing-partner ever before.

As he'd (quite embarrassingly) stood still for a good while, she finally arched an annoyed eyebrow. " Are you going to dance with me or just keep staring at me for the entire song?" She then grinned a bit. " And to answer your question… You haven't seen me before. I'm Temari."

* * *

/ _**I barely know you but somehow I know what you're about  
A deeper love I've found in you  
And I no longer doubt  
You've touched my heart and it altered every plan I've made  
And now I feel that I don't have to be afraid**_ /

* * *

Growling, he wrapped a pair of extremely clumsy arms around her, having no clue of what the hell it was he was supposed to do. " Give me a damn second, will you?" After a while he went on somewhat grumpily. " I'm Shikamaru."

He had to use absolutely all his willpower to not swear out loud as the music started and he was forced to move. This was definitely his absolutely worst nightmare.

It was pathetic, really, that even with an IQ of two hundred, something like dancing had long since been proven to be utterly impossible for him. And as he'd stomped onto Temari's toes for four times during the first thirty seconds, he was pretty sure he knew that as well.

Why the heck had he let Ino talk him into this?!

Temari's eyebrow was once more up as she looked at him. " You've got _three_ left feet, don't you?"

He gave her an extremely moody look. " If you're looking for a pro, you shouldn't have come here."

She chuckled, adding his humiliation. " There's no need to be so touchy about it." Fifth stomp came. (This time, he wasn't entirely sure if it was an accident.) Her eyes were filled with laughter (perhaps even mockery) as she looked at him. " I think it's absolutely adorable."

Sixth time. And this time, it sure as hell didn't have anything to do with his dancing skills. (Judging by Temari's murderous glance, she knew it too.)

* * *

/ _**Ain't it funny how a moment could just change your life  
And you don't wanna face what's wrong or right  
Ain't it strange how fate can play a part  
In the story of your heart**_ /

* * *

As they kept dancing (or, in his case, stumbling around), they looked amusingly lot like a bull and a matador. After having become his feet's victim for eight times, Temari became scarily good at avoiding them. And each time he hit, she stroke back thrice as hard, for one extremely humiliating time making him yelp with pain. Both were beyond relieved when the torture finally ended.

Temari laughed out loud. " Now that was interesting." He couldn't help but gasp loudly when completely out of blue her hand reached out, pinching his ass quite firmly. Her eyes were nothing but fire when boring into his. " That, Leftie, was for the pain and suffering." Then, seeming deviously innocent, she grinned radiantly once more while letting go of him and waving a hand. " See you around, Leftie."

Inside his head creating every single insult he could possibly find, Shikamaru came to a very clear conclusion.

This girl was definitely the most troublesome thing he'd ever come across. And the next time they'd meet, he'd pay back for that damn pinch.

* * *

/ _**Sometimes I think that a true love can never be  
I just believe that somehow it wasn't meant for me  
Life can be cruel in a way that I can't explain  
And I don't think that I could face it all again**_ /

* * *

Ino had always loved dancing from the bottom of her heart. But as her first pair turned out to be Sai, she cursed the sport straight to lowest spots of hell. Although she knew it was stupid and immature, she was mildly satisfied by the fact that Sai didn't seem to feel any less awkward despite the faked smile on his lips.

For almost a full minute they danced in complete silence (staying as far apart as possible without drawing suspicion), until she finally cracked. " I don't know why the hell you followed me here after having lived in France for almost eight years, but you should go back", she all but hissed. " For both of us."

Sai's smiling façade didn't disappear. " I'm afraid I had no other choice, Ino-chan. I'd enrolled to a student-exchange programme and they sent me here, to become familiar with my original cultural background. I couldn't know they'd send me to your school."

She felt blood boiling in her veins, much more due to anger directed to herself than Sai. " Do you have any idea of how hard you're making life for both of us?" Her voice dripped with desperation that was seeping towards surface. " I have a boyfriend! I can't lose him!"

Sai's smile shuddered, but he managed to maintain it. " I'll only be in Japan for a year. Then it's all over and you can go back to your everyday life. We haven't done anything irreversible – when I'm gone you can forget about me."

* * *

/ _**Ain't it funny how some feelings you just can't deny  
And you can't move on even though you try  
Ain't it strange when you're feeling things you shouldn't feel  
Oh, I wish this could be real**_ /

* * *

As the music ended and he let go of her, starting to walk away – far too rapidly, she failed to notice – she found that none of the boiling inside faded. Her blue eyes radiated about half a dozen emotions when fixed firmly to floor.

_That's not the problem_, she snarled inside her head. _The real problem is that I'm not sure if I want you to go or to forget you._

" Ino?" She jumped high when hearing Shikamaru's voice. He had a frown upon his face as he looked at her, preparing for their upcoming dance. " What's wrong?"

The time she'd known Sai had done its trick. The smile she created was flawless. " Nothing's wrong." She actually managed a mischievous grin. " Now show me what you're made of, Shika-kun."

He made an irritated growl while taking a hold of her. " Troublesome woman."

* * *

/ _**I locked away my heart  
But you just set it free  
Emotions I felt  
Held me back from what my life should be**_ /

* * *

Neji had never considered himself a particularly lucky person. That's why he was amazed when Lady Luck seemed to be on his side for once. For the person who was to dance with him turned out to be TenTen.

He could see the girl bite her lip, hard. " Neji, this is a mistake."

He frowned, utterly lost. " What are you talking about?" he demanded while wrapping his arms almost cautiously around her.

Whatever answer had been about to escape her lips, it was swallowed away when the music started.

TenTen's eyes radiated such utter terror it hurt him almost physically, and it took all his poker face to not wince while he took a better hold of her. He couldn't help remembering how much the girl had enjoyed of his touch once upon a time as she now tensed to such extend her every muscle became harder than stone. She looked just about ready for a fight or flight.

It was at that moment he just couldn't take it anymore. It was amazing, really, how little his usual façade faltered as he tried to catch her eyes that seemed to be running away from him. " Ten, we've been best friends since before kindergarten, and we dated for over two years. Don't do this."

Her terror – and pain, he discovered with great confusion – grew even deeper, and she tried to vigour her way out of his hold. " Neji, stop."

But oh, he wasn't about to give in quite that easily, not when he finally had her in front of him like this, for a first time in almost a year. His eyes were far sterner than he'd indented as they finally caught hers and bore straight through. " TenTen, why the hell did you leave me?" He didn't mean to sound so harsh, either, but he just couldn't control himself anymore when the damn had been smashed broken. " What happened? Where did you go?"

TenTen was obviously fully prepared to run. Never before had he faced such fear he now saw in her eyes. " Neji, stop this. I can't tell you. You have to stay out of this."

Just as she was about to leave, he managed to grab her arm – and immediately noticed how she shuddered with pain. This time, he was absolutely certain the reaction had nothing to do with him.

He frowned, everything inside him turning cold. " Ten? What's wrong?"

And it was at that moment he started to realize why she wore a long sleeved shirt.

Before TenTen could do a thing to stop him, he'd taken a firm hold of the fabric and rolled it so that he could see her arm. The coldness inside him grew tenfold as he saw that there was a huge, most definitely painful blackish bruise sneering back at him.

* * *

/ _**I pushed you far away  
And yet you stayed with me  
I guess this means**__**  
That you and me were meant to be**_ /

* * *

His eyes radiated fire and wrath as they met hers once more. " Who the hell did this to you?"

Yet again, fate decided to be cruel to him. For all of a sudden the music stopped and their teacher spoke. " Alright, kids. Time to switch partners."

He didn't manage to as much as open his mouth before she'd already sprinted off, her sleeve firmly back in place to disguise her secret.

Hinata, who turned out to be his new dancing partner, frowned when glancing first towards TenTen, then to him. " W-What was that a-about, Neji-kun?"

He, too, frowned. " I don't know", he admitted with extreme reluctance, staring at the direction to which TenTen had disappeared. _But I'm going to find out, whatever it takes._

* * *

/ _**Ain't it funny how a moment could just change your life  
And you don't wanna face what's wrong or right  
Ain't it strange how fate can play a part**__**  
In the story of your heart**_ /

* * *

As she spotted Naruto wobbling just a little when the song ended, Anko decided that it was time to bring an end to this.

She looked towards Gai. " Could you take over for a while? There's something I need to take care of."

The man flashed her a radiant smile. " Of course."

-

Naruto wasn't sure if he was disappointed or relieved when music stopped and their female teacher – Anko, he now finally remembered – walked up to them, giving him a stern look. " Alright then, brat. Unless you're in my car within the next two minutes, I'll tell Iruka exactly to which class you attended. And we both now how he'd feel about it."

He was hasty to follow her (although some distant part inside he just couldn't understand would've wanted to stay for another dance…). At the moment, he was too excited and dazed to feel the pain slowly but surely appearing to his chest.

(He was already home when he realized he'd forgotten Iruka's papers.)

-

Extreme irritation and something else she couldn't name rose inside Sasuke as she looked at Naruto's distancing back, her teeth clenched as well as her fists.

She was barely remaining sane with the thought of her time running out and Orochimaru looming around somewhere. And now…

This confusion sure as hell wasn't something she would've needed.

" So…", Gaara's somewhat tentative voice spoke all of a sudden, catching her uncharacteristically off guard. " I suppose we should dance."

She was stunned by how well she managed to maintain a somewhat casual expression despite all the whirring inside her head. " Yeah." First tones started to flow. " Let's get started."

* * *

/ _**Man, it's a hot one  
Like seven inches from the midday sun  
Well, I hear you whispering the words that melt everyone  
But you stay so cool  
My muñequita, my Spanish Harlem Mona Lisa  
You're my reason for reason  
The step in my groove**_ /

* * *

Sasuke was almost surprised by how much harder and warmer Gaara's hands felt than Naruto's as the redhead held her, starting to spin her around.

Yet again, she felt herself sliding into some faraway place. Her mind became completely blanked by music and motion, forgetting the weakness lingering underneath surface.

She wasn't entirely sure for how long they'd been dancing when Gaara suddenly spoke. " I never remembered to thank you." As she arched a questioning eyebrow, he went on. " For… helping me", the redhead explained, sounding as though the word had tasted foreign to him. She could detect carefully hidden humiliation from his features.

She merely shrugged. " It wasn't a big deal."

" Maybe not to you."

" Hn."

They spun around in silence for a while, deep in thought and slowly getting used to the feelings of each other's touches.

* * *

/ _**And it's just like the ocean under the moon  
It's the same as the emotion that I get from you  
You got the kind of lovin' that can be so smooth, yeah  
Gimme your heart, make it real,  
Or else forget about it**_ /

* * *

Sasuke had fallen almost completely into some world inside her head when Gaara's voice managed to snatch her. " Why did you help me?" The redhead's expression told quite clearly that he didn't understand.

She was glad it was time to spin just then, so she didn't have to meet his eyes. " Because I know what it feels like to be stared at."

Gaara seemed surprised, maybe even curious, but didn't ask.

Just then the music ended, and she could barely repress a hiss of annoyance as her legs dipped ever so slightly, almost giving out. Perhaps this little session had been a mistake, after all.

That thought became confirmed when she felt a wave of sickness unlike ever before, and her body shuddered as she barely managed to hold it down. And it wasn't until then she once more recalled that Kakashi had warned nausea was a common side effect of her so-called treatment.

_Great… Absolutely fantastic…_

Gaara's eyes were filled with something close to suspicion as the redhead looked at her. " You okay?"

She nodded, managing to maintain her usual expression. " Yeah."

She had a feeling this was going to be a _long_ lesson.

* * *

As Saisha Hyuuga escorted Kimimaro through the front door of her house, she wasn't sure if the feelings inside her were closer to amusement or sorrow as she spotted the bafflement upon his face he couldn't hide despite evident attempts. " Alright, Kimimaro. This will be your new home for a while."

He nodded, apparently struck speechless as he kept glancing around, not daring to take another step to one way or another.

Unfortunately, his shocks for that day were far from over. She could see him jump and prepare to fight when sounds of running steps came from the stairs beside them. " Mom, I was already getting worried! It's…" Her younger daughter – Hanabi – trailed off and froze as she finally spotted their new guest. " Oh, that's right, we were supposed to get a visitor today." Smiling brightly, she made a small bow. " I'm Hanabi."

It took a while before the boy managed to return the gesture somewhat stiffly. " Kimimimaro."

Saisha flashed her daughter a small, proud smile before speaking. " Hana', where's your father? I didn't see his car at the driveway."

Hanabi's smile dropped immediately, and the girl bit her lip. " He… called a while ago and said he'll have to work overtime."

Something cold slashed her chest. " Oh." She took a sideways glance towards Kimimaro, hoping from the bottom of her heart he hadn't managed to catch on. Judging by the look upon his face, he had.

She was just about to open her mouth when the door behind her was opened, catching all three of them off guard. Turning their gazes, they found Hinata stood by the doorway.

Her older daughter blushed faintly due to all the attention suddenly directed to her, and it became even more pronounced as she noticed their visitor. " G-Good afternoon." She bowed extremely shakily. " I-I'm H-Hinata."

It took Kimimaro even longer than the previous time to muster a bow of his own. He barely remembered to introduce himself. " K-Kimimaro." It was the first (and, she later came to discover, last) time she ever heard him stutter.

Saisha was a mother. It wasn't hard for her to detect how the two looked at each other a faintest second too long.

Her feelings a wild mixture inside her head, she spoke. " Hana', why don't you take Kimimaro to guestroom? I'll start to prepare some dinner with Hinata."

Her youngest grinned, obviously thrilled by the idea of getting to spend some more time with the quiet boy. " Okay."

As she watched Kimimaro's distancing back (and caught Hinata doing the exact same thing with the darkest blush she'd ever seen), she came to a very clear conclusion.

Kimimaro's stay in their house would most definitely become eventful.

* * *

Since he'd started to work less and less for Naruto's sake a couple of months earlier, Iruka had barely seen any of his colleagues. That's why he was surprised when he opened up his front door to find Anko. He had to blink a while before he managed to speak. " Hey. What's going on?"

She gave him a wry smile. " There's something that belongs to you sleeping in my car."

A mixture of fright, anger and intense worry flared through him, probably showing from his eyes. " He overworked himself, didn't he?"

Had he tried to tell, no one would've believed how soft Anko's eyes became. " Don't be too furious with him when he wakes up, 'Ruka. He was really enjoying himself, and no harm was done. He's going to be fine after some rest."

He started to feel incredibly cold as her words sunk in.

Yes, Naruto would be fine this time around. But… What about the next time? What if…?

He was fortunate Anko's voice pulled him out of those thoughts. " 'Ruka?" A sad look appeared into her eyes as she understood. " It's that bad, huh?"

It wasn't until then he realized there was moisture on his cheeks. He gave a small, teary laughter while wiping it away. " Sorry. I… wasn't supposed to…"

All words were caught into his throat when Anko did something she'd never, ever done before. He froze completely with stun for a moment before managing to respond when she wrapped one arm around him, pulling him close. He could just feel heat rising to his cheeks.

After a moment the woman pulled away, almost like nothing had ever happened. Although she grinned in her usual manner, the grief wouldn't disappear from her eyes. " Now let's go and get that rascal to bed before he wakes up and dashes towards another escapade."

* * *

After her biology lesson and Sasuke's dancing lesson ended, Sakura fully expected to find Sasuke from the dressing room amongst everyone else who'd been dancing. That's why worry made a tight knot to her throat when the raven was nowhere in sight.

Following some instinct even she couldn't understand, she ended up to a toilet not too far away. All her fears were confirmed when she heard sounds of someone throwing up violently. " Sasuke?" There was no response apart from yet another heave. " I'm coming in, 'k?"

Not giving her best friend a chance to argue, she pushed the door open. She almost wished she hadn't.

Never – not even after Sasuke's parents' death – had she seen the raven as fragile as she was then, slumped in front of a toilet and panting desperately to regain some breath, one hand pressed against her stomach. She wasn't sure if it was irritation, terror, embarrassment or all of those she saw upon Sasuke's face as the girl slowly turned to look at her. " Sakura… go", the raven snarled as forcefully as she could after all the throwing up she'd done.

Ignoring her friend, Sakura closed the door behind her, walked over and rubbed Sasuke's back in a circling motion as she threw up again. After several minutes Sasuke was done.

It took a mighty while before she managed to speak, her voice etched with fear. " Sasuke… What's wrong?"  
Several moments passed by before Sasuke responded with her once more fire-filled onyx eyes turning towards her, carrying a carefully created glare. The words were exactly those she'd expected. " I'm fine. So you can stop looking at me like that."

She fought the urge to sigh heavily as she outstretched a hand. She forced herself to smile faintly as Sasuke glanced at her with some confusion. " C'mon. I'm walking you home." After so many years, she was far from being affected by Sasuke's hard glare. " Don't you dare give me that. There's no way I'll let you go alone."

Muttering something dark under her breath, Sasuke took her hand, allowing her to pull the girl up.

That acceptance of help was the loudest evidence of something being wrong she'd received so far.

-

Itachi seemed surprised, to say the least, when his visibly annoyed (or perhaps mostly embarrassed) sister – paler than a sheet and holding her stomach with apparently still squirming nausea – was guided into the house. The older Uchiha gulped before daring to speak. " What happened?"

" I was just feeling a bit sick", Sasuke replied before Sakura could even open up her mouth. " There's nothing to worry about."

Itachi – never having been a fool – didn't seem too convinced. Knowing that there was no way he could've pushed his sister further, the older sighed. " Go to bed, Sasuke. You've had a long day."

Judging by how tense the girl's shoulders were, Sasuke could quite clearly feel their eyes on her as she nodded and slowly walked up the stairs, seeming firmly focused on each and every step. Not much later, a chillingly hollow clonk told them she'd closed the door to her room.

It took for a longest time before Sakura found her voice, and once she did, it was a pale shadow of its usual. " Sasuke… She's really ill, isn't she?" Sasuke (or Itachi, for the matter, as he probably wanted to respect his sister's wishes) still hadn't told her exactly what news she'd heard in the hospital back then, no matter how many times she'd asked. But she wasn't an idiot; she could tell something was horribly wrong.

It took all her observational skills to discover the tiny nod Itachi gave, his face a stony mask.

In a spur of a moment, she reached out a hand and grabbed his, giving it a brief, tender squeeze. Before Itachi got the chance to even think about responding, she let go and started to walk towards the kitchen, blinking furiously against a burning sensation in her eyes. " I'll make so dinner, 'k?" Her voice was oddly raw. " It looks like you two haven't eaten properly in ages."

Itachi's voice wasn't even close to normal, either, as he responded. " Thank you."

For the next hour, the just about only noises heard in the house were those she made while cooking. She pretended not hearing the nearly soundless ones Itachi made after having slumped to a couch in living room.

* * *

Ibiki was a patient man – he would've never made it in police force if he wasn't. But this case was really starting to get on his nerves.

" So, let me get this straight…" His voice was crackling with soon to be snapping temper. " You've been searching for all this time, and you still haven't managed to find that freak?"

One of the young policemen in front of him spread his arms helplessly. " We've searched everywhere, but it seems Orochimaru's disappeared from the face of the earth. And whenever we find tracks, they grow cold before we can even investigate properly. It's a dead end."

He sighed heavily, desperately attempting to get himself composed. " Get back to work, then", he muttered, his eyes straying to the huge pile of papers and files before him. " We've got a lot of work to do."

They didn't hesitate to obey.

He sunk deep into thought as he kept looking at the papers.

It'd been this long, and Orochimaru was still out there, looming like some annoying shadow. After all she'd been through, Sasuke would've deserved better than this.

Mizuki's voice almost startled him. " What about that kid – Kimimaro?" The man's eyes held something he couldn't name. " Does anyone know about him?"

He shook his head. That, at least, was some good news. " Even Sasuke didn't know he was there, so we and Orochimaru are the only ones who know the full truth."

" Do you think he'll talk?"

His eyes darkening, he shook his head again, gritting his teeth. " I don't know what that asshole did to him, but I don't think Kimimaro would betray him – yet, at least. It'll take a lot of time to get him into a condition in which he'd talk, if it's even possible."  
Mizuki responded with a nod.

Silence must've lasted for a long time when the white haired suddenly pushed himself up, starting to walk towards the door of his office. " Well, I've got work to do as well, so I should go."

Had he not been so deep in thought, he would've seen the strange expression upon Mizuki's face as the man disappeared, closing the door soundlessly after him.

-

Carefully making sure that no would was around to listen, Mizuki pulled out his cell-phone and dialled numbers.

It didn't take long before there was a response. " _Yes?_"

He glanced around once more. " I just thought I should call and report that everything's under control. These idiots haven't found out a thing."

" _What about Kimimaro?_"

" That brat's not going to talk. And if he's about to…" His eyes gleamed. " … I'll just have to make sure I'm the only one who'll be there to listen."

There was a snake-like hiss of pleasure. " _Excellent._"

Knowing that'd he'd pleased his master, he felt bold enough to pry. " When are you coming back to Konoha?"

" _Soon. I still have some things to sort out, but I'll be there in a matter of days. In the meantime, I want you to keep making sure everything goes as planned._"

He nodded, paying no mind to the fact that the man couldn't see him. " I will, Orochimaru-sama."

There was a growl. " _I've told you not to use my name._" There was a pause of irritation." _Now, I must go. We both have a lot of work to do._"

" Alright. I'll see you soon."

His only response was bleeping as Orochimaru had already hung up.

* * *

TBC??

* * *

A/N: (blinks owlishly) Wow. I've never felt this much like having gone through a roller coaster after writing a chapter before. I hope that's a good sign. (gazes hopefully)

(Oh yes, and to those who are worried about the hinted NaruSasuGaa… thing, no worries! Whatever it moulds into, no friendships shall be ruined. Pinkie swear!)

Oukey doukey, I really should get going now. PLEASE, do review – I'm still extremely nervous about this chapter, so I'd really need your voices! (offers brownies as a bribe)

Until next time (unless, of course, you don't want such)!

Take care!

* * *

**Kai's kitty**: (wipes tears) Once more, I have to agree with all my heart – poor Sasuke, and Itachi, too! (hugs tightly, before running madly to escape Sharingan) And that f--g bastard Orochimaru! (snarls LOUDLY) I hope from the bottom of my heart I'll be able to grant him a slow, painful death. (keeps hissing)

Thank heavens there's Naru-kun to bring in some light! (smirks)

Huge thank yous for reviewing! Stick around, yeah (or should I say 'un')?

-

**realityfling18**: (sniffles) Poor Sasuke (and Naruto, too) indeed! But oh yes, that year's time limit for both surely does draw suspicion. (smirks coyly) And cookies for poor Kimi-kun!

I'm so glad you love loving Itachi – I just couldn't keep myself from writing him in as such after having read the latest manga-chapters! He's definitely very high on my 'favourite characters' –list at the moment. (Heh, and Naruto seriously hit me as a mischevious type. Glad you liked that, too!) (chuckles)

Gigantic thank yous for the heart warming review – I'm so proud you've loved the story so far! 'Hope I'll keep seeing you around.

-

**shirilyle**: Yay – I'm so happy you loved the chapters! (jumps up and down with joy) Huge thank yous for reviewing!

Stay tuned, yeah?

-

**psycopathiccat**: A lot of guestions have been arising, hmm? I'm so happy to be able to tell you that all of those shall be answered – eventually… (sweatdrops)

WOAH – you actually think the story's well-written? Goodness – thank you so much! You can't even imagine how happy that makes me – as well as the fact you like the many storylines (I was really nervous about bringing them on, so I'm beyond relieved I haven't screwed up loyally)!

MASSIVE thank yous for the incredible review – I'm so proud you've liked it so much so far, especially considering you're normally not that much into SasuNaru! I really hope you'll keep liking the story!

(Are you seriously saying that your review wasn't all that great?!) (nearly collapses with shock) (I can tell you, I LOVED it!) (smirks from ear to ear)

-

**Belladonna-Isabella**: Gosh, I'm sure there are spelling/grammar errors! I'm a non-native, and to top that, I never have time to proofread the story as well as I'd like (and when I do, it's in such hours I'm usually exhausted…). (sweatdrops) I'm so glad it's only some! I promise to do my best to work on those. (smirks sheepishly)

Hey, before I forget, about the title! "Anagnorisis" means 'recognition' or 'discovery' or 'revelation' and it was originally the critical moment in a Greek tragedy leading to the denouement of a story. For example the recognition by the tragic hero of some truth about his or her identity or actions that accompanies the reversal of the situation in the plot. The discovery of such knowledge changes the conduct and actions of the hero, who now accomodates accepting his fate and adjusts his actions thus facilitating the upcoming outcome. (That was taken from Wikipedia – I'm so sorry for being too overworked to not write it with my own words!) It wasn't quite as dramatic in this fic, but it referred to the charactesr (especially Sasuke, I think) coming to certain crossroads in their lives and facing whole new situations such as fatal health problems (as well as emotions, mainly love) in their lives. (Once more, sorry – that was probably the most confusing explanation ever.) (winces)

You have no idea of how much I agree – Orochimaru is a total a--e! (snarls loudly) I really hope I'll be able to give him a SLOW, painful death.

I'm so glad you liked that piece with Itachi's reaction! I was feeling quite a bit when writing it. (He's my fave too at, now more than ever! Hooray!) And I'm beyond happy you like side-stories and atmosphere! (jumps with utter joy) I've had a lot of fun transporting the Naruto world into modern world. (grins)

Enormous thank yous for the hear warming review – I'm beyond proud you've liked the story so much so far! I really hope you'll stick around (and that you liked the way Gaara was brought in, too – after all, he's one of my fave's, too, so I was a bit nervous about the way I brought him out)!

-

**VyseN**: (eyes widen with shock) You actually reviewed after a day in job! Wow – being as hopelessly lazy when it comes to reviewing as I am, you truly admire you!

I'm so glad you're already starting to like the characters, not to mention you find the plot interesting! (I'm really feeling for Neji as well. The poor thing never has it easy in my stories, eh?)

Huge thank yous for reviewing, especially since it was after a day at work – I'm so glad you liked the chapter! 'Hope you'll stay tuned.

-

**Numbing-Pain95**: (gasps with shock) Oh my dear goodness – I'm so sorry about your friend! (offers a hug) I hope from the bottom of my heart that she'll be okay! (keeps fingers – and toes, too, if helps any – crossed)

Thank so much for reviewing, and reading – I can imagine it wasn't easy! You can't even imagine how glad I am if my story helped you!

'Hope you'll stay tuned, and stay strong! My best wishes to your friend! (Thank heavens she has a caring friend like you supporting her!)

-

**Selene98**: (chuckles) So I'm not the only one feels violin is definitely Sasuke's instrument! (I love cello, too!)

You want to stab Orochimaru, too? (smirks cruelly) Let's make a group!

Massive thank yous for the review – I'm so proud you think the chapter was good job! (jumps with joy) I hope you'll stay tuned.


	4. Lapses

A/N: First of all, I'm terribly sorry about the long wait! (wince) I've been having a bit of a crisis of inspiration lately, and I'm currently in an environment that doesn't exactly support this little hobby of mine, so… (cringes) I'm so sorry, but at least I'm now finally back! (wipes forehead)

BUT, before getting to the business, massive thank yous for those absolutely heart-warming reviews! (sends hugs and chocolate) It means a world to me to know that there are people who want this story to live on.

Okay, after having made you wait for way too long, let's go! I REALLY hope this chapter turns out to be worth the wait!

DISCLAIMER: The song used this time was 'So in love with two' from Mikaila. I swear, me owns nothing, so no sue, pwease? (glances pleadingly)

* * *

CHAPTER 4: Lapses

* * *

Flashes were yet again storming through Sasuke's head as she slept, obvious signs of discomfort upon her pale face.

/ _Young as she was, she could already sense something horrendous approaching every single time she heard the sounds of flesh meeting flesh from downstairs, heard the muffled sounds of his parents and Itachi. Until the age of seven, she placed her hands to her ears every single time and started to hum to distract herself. But in the end, she stopped. No magic trick would make the sounds stop completely._ /

/ _She should've known not to trust when Orochimaru offered a glass of water towards her, should've sensed danger. But after she'd taken a cautious sip, the next thing she felt was the man all over her._ /

/ _She could've never imagined something could hurt as badly as the fist slamming against her cheek did. The breath against her face reeked of alcohol, and she could barely keep herself from throwing up. " Shut up, brat. Big girls like you don't whine – your brother never whines."_ /

/ _Another hand, yet not a single bit more desired, stroked her face while other remained pressed tightly to her throat, trapping her to a couch. This breath held a scent of chamomile that'd never leave her nightmares after that. " Flawless."_ /

/ _Tears – of rage, of guilt, of crushing grief, of betrayal – leaked from her smouldering eyes. " You… You killed her! You… You fucking asshole, you killed her!" As response, metal was pointed towards her. Her heart came close to stopping._ /

The person who woke her up with ruffling her hair was fortunate sleep slowed her down so that she didn't manage to throw a punch before a voice spoke. " Teme, time to wake up." Her eyes flying open, she met Naruto's much too familiar blue orbs. There was an amusement- and worry-filled look upon the blonde's face. " What are you doing sleeping here outside? It's freezing!"

It wasn't until then she realized just how cold it was. Weeks had scrolled by faster than anyone could've anticipated, and before long autumn had turned into fast approaching winter.

She was surprised she managed a glare as hard as she did while rubbing her face with one hand and responding. " What is it with you sneaking up on people?" Truth was, her heart was jumping a bit with fright. Apparently, she'd fallen asleep after having come outside for fresh air while studying. She was more and more tired each day, it seemed.

" C'mon, teme", Naruto commanded, offering her a hand that left no room for objections. " It's warm in my place, and you're frozen."

For a reason she just couldn't comprehend she actually accepted the hand, even found herself squeezing ever so faintly. Perhaps all their dancing lessons and walks home afterwards (with Naruto babbling and she keeping her sulk-like silence, although she wasn't all that bored) had done their trick. " You're impossible, dobe. You do know that, right?"

The blonde just grinned. " Just get up so we can go, grouch. I'm freezing, too."

Shooting a grumpy look towards the boy, she did as ordered – and could barely bite back a sound of agony as sharp, stab-liked pain went right through her as she got up, lasting almost longer than she could bear. She knew exactly what was going on, and her chest tightened slightly.

_So this is how the pains start…_

Naruto, obviously having spotted a look of discomfort upon her face and a shudder, frowned. " Are you okay?"

She nodded, still forced to grit her teeth. " Yeah. Let's just get going."

As they started to walk slowly (Naruto forgetting to let go of her hand and she forgetting to break herself free), she absentmindedly lifted one hand to smooth her hair after the damage Naruto's ruffling had done.

She remember exactly the sad smile upon Kakashi's face when she'd asked why she hadn't lost her hair already, and the man had replied that some patients did maintain their hair all through the treatment.

She fought the urge to snort.

_Well, at least I was lucky for once._

Fortunately, she was ushered out of all dark thoughts when they entered Naruto's house.

" Iruka's working", the blonde explained while pulling her towards living room. " That leaves just the three of us."

Trace of a frown appeared. Three?

She got her answer when she spotted Gaara sitting cross-legged on a couch. A strangest expression flashed by the redhead's face when he spotted her. " Hey."

She nodded her own greeting, musing that she couldn't be exactly surprised by the boy's presence. Since the redhead's arrival to Konoha, he and Naruto had been practically inseparable. Surprisingly enough, she wasn't all that troubled by his presence, either. Despite all his guardedness, Gaara was a kind person deep down, and they shared this odd understanding. She almost dared to call the redhead her friend, as far as she was willing to confess having such.

" You two, try to behave", Naruto commanded while starting to make his departure. " Nature calls. I'll be back in a sec."

Once they were alone, Gaara moved his gaze which, surprisingly enough, seemed to be filled with worry to look at her. " Naruto spotted you out in the cold, and it looked like you'd been there for a while. Are you okay?"

Slowly, her body stiff and numb from cold, she walked up to the couch and sat down next to Gaara, making herself comfortable. " What were you doing?" she inquired, choosing to shrug off the question as hastily as possible.

Gaara was smart enough to take her hint. " Watching anime", the redhead replied. It seemed that the boy fought the urge to sneak closer to her, but she probably imagined it. " Iruka bought this new DVD – 'The Namikaze Chronicles' – for Naruto a while back."

She groaned. " Are you seriously wasting your time on that?"

Gaara shrugged. " It's okay once you get used to this. Besides, Naruto loves this stuff and I don't have the heart to tell him no."

Despite her nature, she chose to give in to curiosity for a moment and arched an eyebrow. " You know that dobe pretty well, don't you?"

There was a strange look in Gaara's eyes – pretty close to the one he'd had when she'd appeared to his aid after that annoying troublemaker's harassment weeks earlier. " We've known each other for years, so… I guess I do", the redhead stated quietly, not looking her way. The boy contemplated for a longest time before going on. " Years ago, before I… left Konoha, I was in a hospital. He was the only one who dared to come and talk to me." The boy glanced towards her hand, which confused her quite badly, but did nothing. " He's my first, and for a long time only, friend. I owe a lot to him."

She nodded, her head buzzing with thoughts she couldn't quite put into order.

It didn't come as a surprise to her that Naruto was that warm at heart. Heck, one day when they'd been walking home from dancing lesson, the blonde had sprinted after an injured puppy and chased after it for two hours, winding up bursting into tears when finding it dead. The next week, the boy had been too sick to attend to dancing lesson. She, much to her confusion, had spent all the time she could spare in his room while he'd been ill, though most of the time feeling too queasy to do much else than sleep with him.

" Sasuke?" Gaara's voice pulled her out of those thoughts. The redhead's eyes carried a look she couldn't recognize when staring firmly towards TV-screen. " You should know… Before meeting you, he hadn't been playing guitar for three years. I'm sure he started again for you."

She snorted, feeling something underneath her ribcage she found extremely unfamiliar and disturbing. " That's because he's a dobe."  
Was that a beginning of a smile she saw? " He's not the only one, then", he all but whispered, the words obviously not meant for her to hear.

She frowned with confusion, but before she could ask a thing Naruto came to the room, flopping to sit beside her. " What did I miss?"

Her eyes shot towards the TV-screen. It was a miracle she was still on to the plot. " That guy with chicken-butt hair just announced he's going to exterminate his brother for butchering their entire clan. That whiny girl with creepy hair's drooling after him and making a fool out of herself."

Naruto grinned brightly, obviously failing to notice her sarcasm (or, much more likely, choosing to ignore it). " I told you this is good stuff."

She scoffed, rolling her eyes. " No, dobe. This is completely stupid. I can't believe you managed to talk me into wasting my time with this!"

Naruto cast a sneaky glance towards her. " And I still don't see you walking out."

She gave the blonde a death-glare, then glanced towards Gaara with eyes that clearly said 'Help me talk some reason into him, will you?!' The only support she got was finding the redhead fighting against bursting into a laughter. Her look turned into an accusing one.

_Traitor._

At that, Gaara actually chuckled, though just slightly. Naruto gave his best friend an inquisitive look, then spoke. " I probably don't even want to know."

At the point where the chicken-butt haired guy almost ended up dying for his comrade, Sasuke suddenly felt Naruto move. She cast the other a suspicious near-glare when finding the blonde nestling quite comfortably to sit behind her. " What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Naruto smirked brightly, enclosing a pair of blissfully warm arms around her slender body. " You're colder than an ice-cube after sitting out there for hours, baka. I'm trying to keep you from catching your death."

Had she been in a correct state of mind, without Naruto so close, she would've laughed sarcastically.

_A bit too late for that, dobe._

Her thoughts not heard, the blonde tightened his hold, most likely identifying her barely traceable shuddering as a sign of feeling cold.

All possible flashes of Orochimaru flooding into her mind, her first sensation was to punch, anything to make Naruto let go. But before she did anything, her mind changed without a warning and she remained perfectly still, enjoying of the warmth that radiated from Naruto's body to hers as he also warmed up slowly. With the warmth lulling her into a state of drowsiness, she didn't even have the strength to slap his hand away when he started to stroke her hair.

-

Naruto didn't remember when he would've last felt as contented and calm as he did while stroking Sasuke's silky hair, the girl leaning against him with such trust he'd never faced such.

He knew there wasn't infinity left. But at the moment, for just a short while, such a cruel thing as time didn't exist. This was his – their – own little eternity. And at the moment, that was all he needed.

Comfortable silence hovered over the room as the three sat in companionable silence, an inch from falling asleep and drawing much needed strength and comfort from each others' presence.

For a moment, everything was good in the world.

* * *

It had taken time, and it was still nowhere even near easy, but little by little Hinata was growing used to the boy living in the room beside hers.

From the very beginning, Kimimaro had done absolutely everything in his power to makes his stay in their house as pleasant for them as humanly possible; doing far more than his share in housework (although he barely knew what to do, never having seen many of the equipment in their house, let alone used them), and remaining almost alarmingly quiet for most of the time. But there were still some habits and several damages left into his mental health that made his stay… well, interesting. Plus, he was still steely determined that one day Orochimaru (she had no idea of who the man was, for her mother wouldn't tell her, perhaps didn't even know properly) would come and take him home, and more often than not she'd heard stifled sobs from his room when she'd passed by to get herself a glass of water in the middle of the night. Several times she'd pondered whether she should go in and try to comfort him, but had decided against it every single time. Kimimaro was just getting used to living with them; she didn't want to rebuild the walls of distrust her family had managed to smash down.

But that night, apparently, was different from all the rest. She nearly dropped the glass-full of icy water she'd just fetched when she saw a familiar, ghost-like figure stood in their living room, gazing through window with haunted eyes. Silvery moonlight gave the boy's white hair and porcelain skin an enchanting glow.

She hesitated for a long time before speaking out. " K-Kimimaro?" Almost cautiously, she approached, finally stood almost beside him, scanning through his obviously strained face with near worry. " A-are you a-alright?"

The boy nodded, not meeting her eyes. " I just couldn't sleep."

She didn't need to ask why. From pretty much day one, she'd heard his muffled screams in the grips of nightmares. She probably didn't even want to know what they were about.

At that moment, she dared to follow her heart's voice for just about the first time in her entire life. After hesitating for a longest time, she managed to stutter. " P-Perhaps I c-could keep y-you company." Hurriedly, she went on with a lie. " I… I c-can't sleep, e-either."

At first, Kimimaro seemed almost surprised by her words. Then, so slowly she could see every single trace of emotion the boy didn't managed to hide, the other's expression became that of utter gratitude.

Neither said a word as they just stood there, she slowly sipping her water and Kimimaro staring into space deep in thought.

-

About five minutes later – having been woken up by the teenagers' hushed words – Hiashi Hyuuga appeared into the room's doorway, unnoticed by both of them. A deep frown of absolute displeasure appeared to his face when he noticed just how close to each other the two stood, how they seemed to be in a world of their own.

He could almost accept his wife's ridiculous idea of inviting that… _thing_ into their house. But if that idiot would cross the final line and touch his daughter… He'd make sure the brat would end up exactly to where he belonged.

* * *

If there was anything Itachi knew about his sister, it was that Sasuke hated – absolutely detested – showing any signs of weakness, no matter how sick she was feeling. That's why he knew to grow alarmed when she'd actually (after groaning that she was fine for several times, though) agreed to send Sakura a message that she wasn't going to school because she was ill; with flue, she'd claimed. And he also knew that Sasuke wasn't one to take naps.

Those facts considered, it was understandable that his heart seemed to want to tie itself into a knot when he came home from the university and discovered his sister sleeping on a couch, her alarmingly pale forehead wrinkled with an expression of ache. " Sasuke?" His face becoming marred with worry he walked closer, knowing it would've been a huge mistake to wake her if she'd simply decided to finally have the rest he'd ordered for her. He took one quick, sharp breath that sounded like a hiss as he felt her forehead and discovered that it was almost burning to touch. Her breathing didn't seem or sound right, either. " Damnit…" He took a firm hold of her shoulder and shook gently. " Sasuke?" To his utter relief, she opened her eyes ever so slightly. There was a spacey look in them, and he wasn't entirely sure if it was he she saw. " I'm taking you to the hospital."

His worry from before grew tenfold when the only objection Sasuke gave was an incoherent moan. Her eyes slid back closed.

His chest feeling far tighter than it should have, he took her gently into his arms, shocked by how light she'd become during the past weeks. He grit his teeth nearly firmly enough to cause pain.

Why the hell hadn't he seen this coming?

As he hurried over to his car, placing Sasuke to passenger's seat as gently as humanly possible and fighting furiously against all the emotions wanting to break loose, he wished from the very bottom of his heart that this wouldn't turn out to be the last time his sister left home.

* * *

Stood in a hallway nearby the huge room where dancing lessons were held, hiding from the watchful eyes of teachers although they hadn't attempted to throw him out for a long time, Naruto frowned upon discovering a particular face missing from the crowd.

_Where the heck is that teme?_

Gaara, who was stood beside him, seemed to have same sort of thoughts. There was a look he identified as worry upon the redhead's face. " It's not like Sasuke to be late."  
Just then, the room's doors were opened. The hallway emptied in a flash.

He shrugged, desperately attempting to fight away the unease swelling in the pit of his stomach. " Meh, I'm sure she's just fine. She'll show up any moment now."

Gaara didn't respond.

They were just about to follow the others into the class when something he would've never wanted to face again appeared. He couldn't keep himself from wincing when the slight pain in his chest he'd been trying to push out of his mind all day suddenly intensified into a sensation that was between burning and slashing.

_Oh shit…_

He managed to take two more steps until the agony intensified still. Before a flash passed it became hard to breathe, and he was forced to clutch to his chest, desperate to do anything to make the ache go away.

" G – Gaara…!" he managed.

With that, all light disappeared from him.

-

Hearing his friend's near-whisper, Gaara felt cold shivers run down his spine. It was his turn to frown as he turned his head. The sight he encountered left everything inside him colder than any winter morning.

On the floor not too far away, laying so still that it couldn't possibly be normal (especially for someone like Naruto), his best friend had slumped to the floor.

" Naruto?"

The other didn't make any kind of response.

" Naruto!"

* * *

Shikamaru was a masochist. That was the only possible reason he found to why he was attending to yet another dancing lesson, and much more, why he wasn't running for his life upon discovering that his partner was to be none other than Temari.

She smirked. " Looking for a rematch?"

He was pleased to discover that the grin he created was quite close to sadistic. " I've still got that pinch of yours to pay back."

She seemed even further amused. " Really now? Then give it your best shot."

That, he did – at least desperately attempted to. But it was quite soon confirmed that no magic trick had turned him into a suave dancer in overnight. Quite obviously, the remaining part of the lesson would be agonizingly long.

Feeling Temari's toes become squashed underneath his foot, he grimaced. " I'm hopeless, aren't I?" he groaned.

She shrugged. Surprisingly enough, the smile on her lips wasn't that of mirth or mockery. " Yeah, Leftie. You're hopeless. But you've improved."

He snorted. " You've gotta be kidding me."

" At least you haven't stomped on my toes for five times in thirty seconds."

He wondered if it'd be worth it to hammer her toes, but decided against it. Temari was obviously in a good mood today. He saw no point in purposely setting her off. He, however, couldn't keep himself from muttering dryly. " Now that's a record…"

As he stumbled, desperately trying to keep up with her and muttering darkly, he failed to notice something that would've most likely terrified him.

Although he was probably the worst dancer in the history of mankind, he was enjoying this. And it had quite a bit to do with the body pressed against his.

* * *

/ _**If I only could decide  
But I can't make up my mind  
I'm breakin' all my rules because of you  
You tell me it's not right  
And it tears me up inside  
But the problem is I'm so in love with two**_ /

* * *

Ino had known to expect that it'd turn out to be a mistake to keep going to dancing lessons where both Shikamaru and Sai were present. But at least so far, her attempts of avoiding Sai had somewhat succeeded apart from that first, disastrous lesson.

That day, however, it seemed her luck finally abandoned her. For the boy stood before her was most definitely the just about last she would've wanted to see (or so her reason tried to tell her).

She fought the urge to wince.

_Not again…_

Fair enough, Sai didn't seem too comfortable with the situation, either, when he almost tentatively took a hold of her. " It's just one song", he stated, that familiar smiling mask firmly on his face. " This'll be over soon."

Had the situation been any other, she would've been amused by how that sentence, which had been supposed to be reassuring, made her feel like she'd been about to get butchered.

As though out of silent agreement, they took better holds of each other (neither realizing just how firmly they held on), and started to move. Her body made a nearly convulse-like movement when, quite clearly working without him noticing, Sai's hand moved far, far lower than she would've pleased.

In a flash, it all came flooding to her; all their their talks in Paris (or well, she'd done almost all the talking), and that one strictly forbidden time when he'd…

" Sai…" Her voice was only a croak, barely worked. She refused to meet his eyes. " Move your hand away. Please."

He did as ordered in a blink, although his response was delayed. " I'm sorry."  
To keep herself from looking at – and preferably, even thinking of, though she knew it'd be impossible – him, she moved her head. It was quite rapidly proven to be a big mistake, for something inside her turned completely cold as the sight met her.

Not too far away, Temari was trying to stumble on with sulking Shikamaru while trying to teach him how to dance. The boy's lack of talent, however, wasn't what caught her attention. It was the way their hands tangled together, how they – despite Shikamaru's skills – moved together like she didn't ever remember moving with the boy.

No matter how hard she tried to fight against the feeling, something she could only call jealousy started to boil beneath surface as she watched the couple move awkwardly, inching closer to each other by every single step.

* * *

/ _**Don't want to fight another night  
Just want to make it right  
C'mon  
Ooh, my number one, my number two  
Somebody tell me what I'm supposed to do  
My number one, my number two  
Somebody tell me  
I'm so in love with two**_ /

* * *

Her slip of attention turned out to cost her dearly. Her balance broke, and before Sai could do a slightest thing to stop it her ankle twisted into a position that was most definitely not normal. Emitting a hiss of pain, she leaned closer to Sai without properly noticing it.

At first, she felt Sai become unnaturally tense, then speak far more quietly than usual. " Are you alright?"

She had no intention to meet his eyes. " Yeah. Just…" Out of stubbornness, she attempted to put some weight to the damaged ankle, only to feel like someone had plunged a knife through it. She winced. " Damnit…"

* * *

/ _**Hey, hey, hey  
I choose the both of you**_ /

* * *

After a longest hesitation, Sai slid one stiff arm to support her. She cast him a suspicious look although she knew exactly what he was on to. " What do you think you're doing?"

" I'm taking you to see a nurse", he replied, tone quite close to the one she'd grown accustomed to in Paris. " It's probably just sprained, but still."

She nodded, struck completely speechless.

Even after everything she'd said and done, he still cared this much?

Swallowing against her pride and this odd, horrendous taste in her throat, she glanced briefly towards him. " Thanks."

He responded with a nod, and she could've sworn she saw traces of a rosy hue upon his cheeks, though it could've been her imagination.

As she limped her way out of the hall with him, only one thing was clear in her mind.

She was even more screwed than she'd originally thought.

-

As the music and lesson finally ended, some instinct urged Shikamaru into turning his head. No matter how hard he tried to fight against it – to tell himself that there was no reason to the dark feeling that landed into the pit of his stomach – he couldn't shrug off what came over him when he saw his girlfriend get escorted out by the exchange student.

Something was wrong, his sensors told him.

Temari's voice almost managed to catch him off guard. She was also looking towards where the couple disappeared. " Is that your girl?" Was that… sympathy?

He fought the urge to wince. The last thing he needed was pity, especially from her. " Yeah."

For a long moment she was silent, until – surprising them both – grabbed his hand. " C'mon, Leftie", she commanded. " My bus home won't be leaving for a while, so I'll have to sit around waiting. You'll keep me company."

He arched an eyebrow. " What do I get for doing that?"

She smirked. " Free coffee."

He had no idea of what pushed him into it, but not before long he found himself sitting beside the girl, absentmindedly drinking coffee. Obviously, he'd forgotten to say 'no'.

* * *

After the lesson, Neji found himself sitting outside the school while waiting for a bus. With rain washing over him like a shower of icy needless, he cursed his own stupidity for forgetting to take an umbrella. It didn't take long until he was drenched wet.

He shivered from something other than cold when the rain suddenly stopped as something was placed to cover him. Looking up, he found a warm flow instead of cold when meeting TenTen's familiar face.

She offered him a tiny, cautious smile, still holding her umbrella so that it covered them both. " I didn't want you to catch a cold", she explained.

The situation was so surprising, so surreal, that he wasn't able to do anything but nod.

As she slowly, almost hesitantly, took a seat beside him, for a long time the only sound that came was from rain hitting the umbrella. But it didn't matter, because first time in a very long time the silence was a comfortable one.

Feeling more hope than he had in several months, Neji inched just a little bit closer to her, though not daring to touch. He couldn't risk scaring her away, not when they'd finally come this far.

All of a sudden, he found it hard to figure out what should've been done next. (Had he been just a little bit less focused on his own reactions, he would've seen how her fingers twitched with desire to grab his ice-cold ones and warm them up.)

In the end – coldness biting his mind numb – he found his lips moving when it was already too late. " Ten…" He swallowed, feeling something heavy and unpleasant in his throat. " I…"

Fortunately (or, perhaps, unfortunately) he was interrupted, for just then a car he knew very well to be her father's appeared to not too far away.

" I've gotta go", TenTen murmured. Always having been observant, he spotted traces of reluctance and something close to terror upon her face as she started to make her way towards the car. " I'll see you tomorrow."

There was a frown upon his face as he watched her slide slowly to the passenger's seat, the door making an ominous sound when closing after her.

Something was badly wrong – now, he was surer about that than ever. And he cared about her far too much to just let it slide.

* * *

As Iruka leaned his forehead against a wending machine in a hospital and pressed his hand to his chest as it felt unnaturally tight, he was at the very end of his endurance. His eyes felt strange, but fortunately tears wouldn't come; he would've never been able to conceal signs of crying from Naruto, and heaven knows the teen already had enough to deal with.

For a longest time he simply stood there, desperately attempting to pull himself together again, until he finally felt ready move without crumbling down. Giving a deep, somewhat shuddering sigh, he took the can of refreshment he'd ordered for Naruto and turned around – only to freeze completely immediately, almost all air escaping from his lungs. The drink nearly fell from his hand while his eyes widened upon recognizing a face he hadn't seen for almost ten years.

The little breath and air he'd had was wasted into the whisper he just managed to emit. " K-Kakashi?"

No matter how hard he wished, even prayed, the man stood frozen before him wouldn't go away. This nightmare refused to end.

More than ten years old words came echoing into his ears.

/ _" H-help me, please help me! __I… I don't want to die! __I __don't__…!"_ /

/ _" Everything's going to work out. You'll be just fine, do you hear me? Just hang on and you'll be alright."_ /

/ _" Iruka, she… she's dead."_ /

/ _" Why… Why didn't you stop her?"_ /

/ _" There… There was nothing anyone could've done."_ /

/ _" Why the hell did you let her go?!"_ /

/ _" I… I'm so sorry, Iruka… God, I'm so sorry!"_ /

/ _" Just… Just stop it, please. Stop it."_ /

As though through some mist, he saw Kakashi's face grow utterly pale, whiter than any chalk. The man's lips opened for a moment, then closed again when nothing came.

It felt like time had stilled.

Then, unable to bear the situation for another second, he spun around and rushed away, as though taking the coward's way out would've somehow made the situation easier to handle.

_For almost ten years_, his mind screamed at him while he kept practically sprinting, ignoring the pitying looks of people he passed by. His eyes were on fire, but he barely noticed. _For almost ten years, and now this. __He's back in Konoha._

With all the years passed, a tiny, foolish part of him had already almost managed to be convinced that he'd moved on and forgotten, that scars were firmly closed and painless. It wasn't until now did he realize just how foolish that thought had been.

Apparently, he'd been extremely lucky when having managed to avoid running into Kakashi thus far. He had no idea of how he'd be able to convince himself into entering the building again.

-

Minutes slid by with Kakashi staring at the direction to which Iruka had disappeared, his heart hammering million miles per hour and all colour having drained from his face. No matter how hard one half of him would've wanted to run after Iruka – to finally talk about what should've been dealt with so many years ago – the other part was stronger, and he remained nailed to the spot.

He would've probably stood there until the end of his shift, if it wasn't for Shizune's voice defying all odds and breaking through to him. " Kakashi!" Turning his head, he met the woman's frown-marked face. " Kakashi, snap out of it; one of your patients was just brought in."

His head clearing ever so slightly, he blinked a bit, then managed to speak while starting to rush on with her. " Which one?"

Deep sadness appeared to the nurse's face. " Uchiha Sasuke."

A shudder went through him.

* * *

The first thing Naruto saw as he woke up was white, so much that it stung his tender eyes. Emitting a moan of dissatisfaction, he buried his face into one cold hand.

As a response to his noises and movements, there were approaching steps. Pretty soon a voice he knew very well spoke. " Well morning, Naruto." Finally daring to remove his hand and blink his bleary eyes open, he could make out Jiraiya's face. " I'd give you the long, hard lecture you'd deserve, but it looks like you've suffered well enough already."

He glared at the man, rubbing his face to force his head into clearing out. " I feel like there's an elephant sitting on my chest, so you can definitely spare your lectures, old pervert", he whined in a scratchy voice.

Despite apparent worry, Jiraiya seemed to be fighting against laughter. " Nice to see the episode had no effect on your personality", the man remarked, making some notes to his papers. " I sent that friend of yours – Gaara, wasn't it? – home when it became clear you were well out of the woods. I suggest you to get some rest. I'm sure your drugs make your head fuzzy."

Pushing the man's words into the very furthers corner of his mind, he frowned. " Where's Iruka?"

" He went to get you something to drink, just in case you'd decide to wake up." After a moment, then man's face turned slightly more solemn and he winced, knowing expect lecture of some sort. " Naruto… I know you'd love to live like there's absolutely nothing wrong, and it's a good thing. But you have to start paying better attention to your own health. I'm glad to see you, but not like this."

He glared half-heartedly. " You don't have to start preaching, old pervert." He cast disgusted looks towards all the equipment attached to him. " I think I've learned my lesson for now."

The doctor obviously stifled a laughter. " Now that would be a first time." The man then started to leave. " Now go back to sleep. Iruka may be gentle, but he'd throttle me if he'd find out I've been keeping you awake."

His eyes fell halfway closed. Suddenly, sleep didn't sound like such a bad idea… On the edge of wakefulness, he murmured. " Yo, old pervert." Receiving attention, he went on. " I know you still haven't called Tsunade. So just get over with it and do it already."  
The man seemed to choke on his very breath before sputtering out. " H-How…?"

He smirked sleepily. " I… borrowed one of your 'books'. Her name and number were there."

Jiraiya gave him a strange smile. " Go to sleep, kiddo, and stop worrying about being a matchmaker." The man waved his hand as casually as possible in his current state of mind. " I'll see you later."

His eyes slid closed. " Hmh…"

As he drifted into a sleep, he had a strange dream of a raven sitting on a weak tree branch. He could've sworn he heard violin music.

* * *

Sakura's shift had started only a couple of minutes earlier, but she could already feel this warning whispering in the back of her mind. Those feelings became confirmed when she passed by a waiting room, and froze completely at what she saw.

There, Itachi had slumped to a bench, seeming like he barely had the strength to remain sitting up. His eyes, red and puffy, held a look that tore even her heart.

Sakura found her chest feeling so cold that it was almost impossible to keep breathing. There were only two times she'd seen the boy like this before.

Swallowing thickly she approached slowly, as though not exactly sure if she really wanted to ask the first thing that appeared into her mind. " Itachi?" Meeting his bloodshot, nearly startled eyes, she almost lost her courage. Her voice was considerably quieter than before when she went on. " What… What's going on? Is… Is Sasuke alright?"

As his first response Itachi looked away, like not daring to look at her, his eyes (whole face, actually) filling with such misery it didn't seem even human. It took what felt like an eternity before the boy finally spoke, weight of the words becoming simply too much to carry. " She… She's got leukemia, Sakura." He didn't look at her. Not that it would've mattered, because his eyes didn't seem able to see. " She's… she's going to…" His small voice faded away completely.

She felt like a sledgehammer had struck her. For a long, blissful moment there was absolutely nothing inside her as she kept staring at him with constantly widening eyes. World seemed to be spinning. But in the end, the sensations did come, crushed over her all at once, and her legs became so weak they almost gave way.

After having managed to stand for a remarkably long time she finally gave in to her weakness and slumped down next to the Uchiha. Without noticing it she slid her trembling hand into his, and just as subconsciously he returned her gesture, his touch filled with gratitude.

So quietly she could barely hear, he uttered what'd most likely wanted to crawl out for a longest time already. " I… I can't lose her."

Swallowing thickly and blinking against the blur that appeared, she squeezed just a little bit tighter, almost like the gentle hold could've made some sort of a difference.

' _It's alright_', she would've wanted to say and believe. ' _Everything's going to work out._' But her lips wouldn't move an inch.

While minutes rushed by one after another they simply sat there, holding on to each as though they'd been one another's soul links to sanity and hope.

Had the situation been some other, they would've found it odd and disturbing just how much comfort they found from each other's presence.

* * *

By the time clock reached almost eleven at night and Iruka had long since gone home, Naruto found himself growing bored out of his mind. And it was then he came to a conclusion that no matter what Jiraiya or anyone else said, a little bit of legging couldn't possibly do him a lot of harm.

Deciding that any direction was just as good, he allowed his feet to guide him. In the end, he found himself from an unfamiliar ward not too far away. His curious ears immediately twitched as he heard two nurses speaking in a break room, obviously unaware of his presence.

" So you didn't manage to make her take the medication?" one of them sighed in a sad voice.

" She said it only makes her nauseous." There was a deep sigh. " I have no idea of what to do with her. She's just a child, and she's got this all to deal with."

He heard the other nurse go through some papers. There was a soft whisper he guessed was nothing pretty. " These results are far from good." A deep sigh followed. " I really don't envy Kakashi. He'll have to break this to her brother tomorrow."

The mood seemed to change ever so slightly. " Thinking about Kakashi again?"

" Oh shut it, Kurenai. Or do you want me to tease you about Asuma for the rest of the night?"

Losing his interest, Naruto turned his gaze towards a nearby room. Immediately, this call-like sensation filled him.

At that moment, curiosity took the very best of him. Careful not to arouse the nurses' attention, he opened the room's door and sneaked in. In a flash, he almost wished he hadn't.

He found his eyes flying wide, no matter how hard he tried to struggle against it. Because unlike he'd expected, he didn't find a perfect stranger. " Sasuke?"

The girl – who's face seemed even paler than he'd remembered – grew tense and seemed to even jolt before shifting to face him. Clearly, the girl was too exhausted to hold back her emotions, for her oddly bright, feverish eyes revealed at least half a dozen. " Dobe, what are you doing here?" For just a second her eyes gained a strange look he couldn't name when they spotted his hospital outfit. " If you're sick, you should be in bed."

He smirked. " I got bored, so now I'm sneaking around again." He then frowned upon hearing just how badly her breathing wheezed. " Are you okay?"

Her eyes darkened when she looked away. " Dandy."

Despite all attempts to hold himself back, he found his feet taking him to the bed, and before he could even guess it coming he was sitting there, right next to Sasuke's fever-heated form that immediately tensed up as a protest against his closeness. " What… do you think you're doing, idiot?" she demanded, her voice wheezing so badly that it tore his chest.

" I'm trying to keep you company, teme", he announced, then shuddered. " Geez, you're as cold as a block of ice again!"

For a long moment Sasuke squirmed – as though sensing someone else in his place – but then relaxed, apparently realizing that he wasn't about to harm her. As though out of mutual agreement, they turned their gazes towards the window. Behind it, winter's first snow had just started fall, making the world outside seem like a dreamland. Naruto found himself grinning.

Several minutes – maybe even hours, who knew – passed before he found himself speaking, unable to restrain his worry-tinged curiosity for another second. " Sasuke… I heard the nurses say something about… bad news." He swallowed thickly, knowing exactly what the reply would be but not wanting to believe it. " Are you going to…?" He couldn't say the last word, wouldn't utter it in fear of causing a jinx of some sort.

Sasuke stiffened completely against him, he could've sworn she even held her breath. It took for what felt like infinity before she spoke, her voice far more quiet than he'd grown accustomed to. It was obvious she didn't want to talk about this. " They gave me less than year. That, with a treatment that makes me feel much sicker." She held a long pause. As she went on, she seemed to be talking more to herself than him. " Itachi was wrong. Talking about it doesn't make me feel any less like shit."

Something he recognized as shock and intense grief struck through him like a lightning bolt. Without noticing it, he tightened his hold on her, finding a spark of gratefulness when he felt her heart hammering madly, determinedly. " You're not going to die", he announced all of a sudden, not understanding from what pits inside him the words came. His chest was filled with certainty. " You're not going to just give up. You're too damn stubborn for that." In a spur of a moment, he went on. " They've been giving me less than a year since I was five, and I'm still here. You're not going anywhere, either."  
For a longest time it was absolutely silent, as Sasuke most likely processed what he'd just revealed, until there was a wheeze-filled sound that could've been almost anything. " You really are a dobe", she all but whispered. He could've sworn she leaned just a little bit closer.

" Hmph", he grunted while resting his chin to her shoulder, half subconsciously noting that her hair smelled softly like chestnut and autumn, hospital's sickening stench not having tainted them yet.

They both watched as snow kept falling outside.

Once more it was he who broke the silence. " Why aren't you sleeping, anyway? You're never going to get better if you don't rest. That's what Iruka's been trying to lecture me."

It took quite a while before Sasuke finally responded with obvious reluctance. Was that a shudder he felt? " Nightmares. They appear every freaking time I fall asleep."

Not saying a word, he reached out a hand and slipped it into Sasuke's, giving a squeeze. " Maybe I can help you, teme", he suggested, his voice suspiciously hoarse even though he swallowed before speaking. " With the nightmares, I mean." Since it was the only thing he could do for Sasuke, he'd do at least that much. " It's not much fun to spend a night alone in here, anyway."

Sasuke emitted a badly wheezing snort, but returned his squeeze anyhow, most likely without realizing it. " Dobe." Her tone was uncharacteristically soft, though it might've been caused by her condition.

He rolled his eyes, unable to keep himself from smiling. " Just go to sleep for a while, teme."

Precious minutes ticked by while they remained there, gazes directed to the magical-looking snowflakes drifting by the window, sparkling in silvery moonlight. Eventually, Naruto was brought out of his drowsy state and almost startled when he felt Sasuke's body fall limp against him. After quick examination he managed to calm his jumping heart. Sasuke's breathing was slow and deep as she slept, and he was pleased to discover that it wheezed just a little bit less than when she was awake.

He grinned at the sleeping figure, only then realizing just how tired he was. With a yawn he took a better hold of Sasuke (careful not to wake her), then closed his eyes and relaxed. It didn't take long before he was also fast asleep.

* * *

The door of Sasuke's hospital room made no sound when it was slowly pushed open some hours later, nor did the arrival's steps. In the bed, still in Naruto's arms, Sasuke's eyebrows furrowed just slightly, as though she'd sensed the unwelcome arrival, and the steps paused.

Moonlight gleamed in Orochimaru's eyes as they lingered on Sasuke for a long moment. The eyes then moved towards Naruto and flashed with what can only be called possessive jealousy as he noticed just how tenderly the blonde was holding what'd been marked as his.

Very soon, however, the eyes calmed down, and gleamed again when shifting back to Sasuke, drinking in the sight of her. It was hard to resist the temptation to touch, but he'd always been a very patient man and he had time. This wasn't the right moment.

Still, he decided to take a small risk and approached his possession slowly, leaning so that his mouth was only an inch from Sasuke's ear. " He can have you tonight, but don't you ever forget that you're mine." He held a small pause, gaining twisted pleasure from seeing how Sasuke shuddered in her sleep, as though hearing. " Sweet dreams, Sasuke-kun."

With that, he disappeared like a shadow.

* * *

Nurse Mitate was having his first shift in the hospital, and it had definitely not been his best day. He'd been scratched, punched to arm and almost bitten, and only an hour ago a patient had thrown up on him. That's why his mind was far from its sharpest when he spotted a man with long, raven hair and chilling snake-like eyes looming by a room he knew as Sasuke Uchiha's.

He frowned. " What do you think you're doing here?"

He felt an electric-like jolt go through his body as the man's chilling eyes turned ever so slowly to meet his. The unsettling smile granted to him was almost paralyzing, like a snake's attack. " I'm merely her therapist." The man's smooth voice also reminded him of a snake, one that was hiding in a grass, preparing for its attack. " I decided to come and see how she's doing."

He had no idea if this man was a therapist or not, but he did know that she wanted the creep out of here, as far away from his patient as possible. His eyes darkened. " I'm sorry, but visiting hours passed a long time ago, and Sasuke needs her rest. So, if you don't mind…"

The man's smile was deceiving, he could tell. " Of course." Turning around slowly, the raven started to walk away. " Perhaps I'll stop by and say 'hello' another time."

_I'd prefer it if you didn't_, he mused while his eyes kept observing the distancing back, almost like making sure the other would really be gone.

As the man's back had remained disappeared for good five minutes, he dared to snort.

_Great. A freak was just what I needed today._

With that, Mitate continued his round.

Damnit, how he needed coffee right now!

* * *

In the police station, both Ibiki and Mizuki, who'd been going through the latest clues concerning Orochimaru's whereabouts, jumped slightly when the door of the former's office was suddenly thrown open. The arrival was a young female detective named Sumaru, who was currently panting heavily.

Ibiki restrained a growl of irritation. " This'll better be important."

Sumaru nodded eagerly, gradually managing to catch her breath. " I-It is." Very slowly, her speech returned to normal. " We… just got… a phone-call… from a hospital… They… They saw Orochimaru."

His eyes widened uncharacteristically, and beside him Mizuki dropped the file the man had been holding. " What?!"  
Could they possibly be this lucky? Had Orochimaru really been this much of an idiot?

Ibiki's throat was tight as he spoke. " Did the guards catch him?"

Apparently, he'd almost underestimated that asshole. The woman before them shook her head, her optimism dimming visibly. " He managed to get away. The nurse who spotted him didn't realize who he was until it was already too late."

He fought the urge to swear loudly. This was the closest they'd gotten to that freak so far. This meant that there was still hope. He nodded somewhat stiffly. " Thank you for the information. Now go home – your shift ended hours ago."

With a nod and a hasty goodbye, Sumaru disappeared.

So worked up by the recent piece of information he was, that he almost managed to miss something extremely important. But as his eyes strayed to side for a moment, they spotted what made all his inner instincts scream threat.

He was surprised, maybe even shocked, but Mizuki… His partner's face was chalk-white, widened eyes radiated what he could only call terror. The man looked exactly like a deer in headlights.

" Mizuki." His voice was far harsher than the one he usually used when speaking to the other, but he wasn't skilled enough to hide his mistrust. " We just received information we've been working for weeks to get. So what the hell's wrong?"

In a remarkably fast pace, the look upon Mizuki's face became such he recognized. " Nah, it's nothing. I'm just tired – after all, we've been working for eighteen hours straight. We're on the same side, remember? I'm just as determined to catch that bastard as you are." With apparent, perhaps even faked, difficulty the man pushed himself up. " I'll go and get us some coffee." As he went, the man chuckled. " You're becoming even more paranoid than Sarutobi." With that, the man was out of his office.

Looking at the closed door, Ibiki found himself frowning.

His partner had just lied to him, straight to his face. And he had a feeling deep inside him that he wouldn't like it when he'd find out why.

* * *

TBC?

* * *

A/N: (cringes) And the bastard's back in Konoha.

Gah, I'm seriously running out of time right now, so I've gotta get going! Don't forget to leave a note, yeah? You've gotta now by now how much hearing from you means to me! (sends huge eyes that are impossible to resist)

But hey, before going, **about future updates**! The next chapter SHOULD appear in about a week, but after that… Urgh… I managed to get a summer job. It's a great thing, of course, but also keeps me filthily busy, so… Bear with me, please? I promise, so long as you want them I'll keep posting out new chapters as fast as humanly possible!

Aieeh, time to go. Up next in this story – Christmas! I REALLY hope I'll see you all then!

Be good!

* * *

**Selene98**: First of all, I'm so glad you've liked how I've brought all the people in so far! You can't even imagine how much fun I've had with imagining the characters in that alternative universe of mine. I'm beyond flattered I haven't lost the track completely!

TenTen's bruise indeed arouses suspicions, hmm? SaiInoShikaTema –square will most definitely keep spinning, but to which direction… Whoever knows? As to your ItaSaku –sensors tingling… We'll see, we'll see… (grins)

(smirks) You may have speculated a lot (I LOVE it when readers speculate and especially when they're right, btw!), but you've also apparently figured out more than you could ever imagine… (keeps smirking mysteriously) (Nothing's more annoying than being wrong!)

Colossal thank yous for the review – I'm beyond overjoyed you liked the chapter! See ya around, yeah?

-

**SerenitySnow412**: I had you crying? (wincing) I'm not sure if I should be utterly flattered or feel guilty! (offers a bag of tissues) I'm so flattered you liked the way I portrayed Sasuke and Naruto's feelings towards their state of health! Putting up with everything with teeth firmly gritted just fits them, huh?

(Let's put that Orochimaru-hunting –group into action! I bet we'd get a lot of members, un!)

Goodness, thank you so much for the AMAZING review – I find it incredible to think you found my writing style powerful, let alone someone would consider the way I've written this perfect! I REALLY hope this story will remain as good as an amazing reviewer as you would deserve!

-

**Belladonna-Isabella**: You suspect you'll end up crying? Oh no – I'm not sure if I should feel guilty or flattered!  
I'm so glad you liked how Gaara and Kimimaro were introduced (I was so nervous about that!), as well as that you enjoy of all the 'side stories' dragged along! (dances happily)

(Oh yes, Naruto and Gaara indeed have a strong friendship. I agree with all my heart – they must have such!)

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the absolutely incredible review – I'm beyond flattered you've loved the story so far! See ya around, yeah?

-

**VyseN**: (chuckles) Here's a HUGE bag of brownies to a dear, loyal reader/reviewer! And some chocolates attached to it, too.

I'm so glad you haven't found it… well, disturbing that the characters are a bit different in this fic of mine. I just figured that since their background stories are greatly different from huge parts, it must've had effect on what's become of them as well. I'm thrilled I haven't made a huge mistake! (cheers so loudly neighbours almost call the police) And oh yes, I DEFINITELY enjoy of writing (too much for my own damn good, even…)! I've discovered that when a certain… vibe (geez, what a word!) is missing or disappears, it's simply impossible to write. (Which is why I've tossed aside several stories before they've even properly shaped inside my head.)

(smirks) I'm also thrilled you chose to read Second Time Around – definitely a HUGE yay to you for daring to try FEMSasu, although the idea does sound a bit creepy at first!

Massive thank yous for yet another astounding review that had me grinning for ages – I'm jumping all the way up to roof thinking you've liked the story so far, not to even mention you consider me a brilliant writer! (blushes) See you around, no?

-

**realityfling18**: Indeed, the 'Last Dance' became explained. (sniff) And oh yes, there'll be a Kimimaro pairing, very soon. (grins) (I really hope he'll be okay, too!) If Itachi's dream meant more, hmm? Oh, you'll find out soon enough. (smirks mysteriously)

(Heh, we should make a 'let's demolish Mizuki' group!)

Enormous thank yous for the heart-warming review – I'm so flattered you think it keeps getting better and better! (dances with happiness) I really hope you'll stay tuned!

-

**ladyofwest**: First of all, goodness – I'm so sorry to hear about that classmate of yours! It's absolutely horrible when people so young die, even if you wouldn't know them all that well! You can't even imagine how glad I am if this story of mine has helped dealing with that extremely unfair tragedy, even a tiny bit.

Now, off to brighter topics. WOAH – thank you from the bottom of my heart for all those praising words! I'm so glad I got you into reading a FEMSasu fic, let alone that you liked and even thin I have talent! (hugs) I'm completely ecstatic here!

So someone else aside me has noticed – we indeed love to see your favourites tortured! (Kinda disturbing, but true.) But poor everyone indeed! Pretty much everyone's going through terrible time in this fic, and it's only just the beginning! (sniff) (Hey, wanna hear a secret? We have a same taste in pairings! We'll see what shall happen…) (grins coyly)

Enormous thank yous for the absolutely amazing review! I really hope you'll still like as the story progresses!

(CRAPPY review?! I loved it!) (smirks from ear to ear)

(And if I'll ever need Spanish translation, I'll DEFINITELY keep you in mind! Thank you so much for the offer!)

-

**Kai's kitty**: I really, really hope Orochimaru (who FINALLY seems to be completely, utterly dead – though you can never be sure…) and Mizuki, too, once he dies in that cell of his have nice eternities in the darkest, hottest corners of hell. (hisses, grabbing Kimimaro AND Sasuke into a protective hold – until a kunai flashes)

Woo-hoo – I love Gaara too! (Raccoon-chan? What an adorable pet name!) (gets punched by Gaara) (WHAT?! It is!)

LOL, Kaka-kun and Jiraiya-sama as personal doctors? Now THAT'S an amazing idea! (drools, imagining Kakashi without his mask) (chuckles) Oh yes, in my own little world all the hottest, cutest perverts indeed are doctors!

I'm so glad you liked the idea of Mozart's Kiss becoming somewhat blended into the story! The idea of music bit me big time, and I just had to give it a go. (Heh, just imagining those two playing together makes my inner yaoi-fangirl squeal and go crazy with delight.) (grins dreamily)

Enormous thank yous for the reviewing! C ya around, yeah?

-

**Moriko-Demon**: (chuckles) So I'm not the only one who hates that creep! Yes, he has his 'hot' moments, and his Japanese voice-actor is AMAZING, but still, especially with that tongue… (shudders)

Huge thank yous for the review! I hope you'll keep looking forward for the chapters to come.

-

**Chibi-Chaaan**: (chuckles) I'm REALLY fast when I want to be, huh? I'm so glad to have you on board now!

(smirks) I most certainly work my very hardest to become better and better. We'll see how that goes – I love challenge!

Massive thank yous for the review! I really hope you'll keep sticking around.


	5. Calm Before The Storm

A/N: Phew – it was a STRUGGLE to find the time and energy, but the update is FINALLY here! Hooray!

First of all, HUGE thank yous for those incredible reviews! (throws chocolate-cookies at everyone) You've really been this fic's lifesavers, you know that? Thank you!

Alright, okay, as you'd most likely just like to get on with it, LET'S GET ROLLING! I really hope you'll enjoy of chapter five!

WARNING: Yet again, I didn't have time to proofread this even nearly as well as I would've wanted to, so there's probably a ton on spelling/grammar errors. (cringes) Pardon me!

* * *

CHAPTER 5: Calm Before The Storm

* * *

Had Ino not been so busy and worked up by other things, she would've noticed how alarming Sasuke's expression had been when the girl had sneaked away from cleaning up after the school's Christmas party, saying that she wasn't feeling well. She also classified Sakura's escape straight after the raven as an attempt to avoid working.

She growled when looking at all the work left ahead. " This is impossible!" she snarled at Shikamaru, who was stood behind him, flapping her arms in exasperation. " There's no way we can get this done with so many people having run off!"

Shikamaru grinned. " Well, you're an expert of mission impossibles", he pointed out, putting his jacket on.

She cast him a warning glare. " Don't you dare even think about running off!"  
He gave her a look that was between apologetic and fearful. " Sorry, but Temari threatened me into doing something today a long time ago. I'm terrified of finding out what it is."

She narrowed her eyes. " Traitor."

" I could never betray you."

She smirked. " Yeah. You wouldn't dare to."

Shikamaru gave her a dry look. " True", he admitted with apparent reluctance, starting to leave.

" You'll come to my house tonight, right?" She was too busy with thinking about other things to realize that it was the first time ever she had to make sure he'd stick to the plans they'd made.

" Of course." He waved a hand. " See you tonight."

Her attention was elsewhere as she responded mechanically. " See you."

It took long before she realized he hadn't kissed her as they parted, and even longer to figure out that she hadn't felt disappointed.

She was just busy muttering at the extremely heavy box she was carrying when Sai's familiar voice startled her almost enough to make her drop it. " It looks like you could use an extra pair of hands", he noted.

She shot a somewhat nasty look towards him. " Were you trying to give me a heart-attack?" She then sighed and counted to ten. " Sorry."

She had a feeling that for once, the smile upon Sai's face wasn't a fake one. " It's alright." He'd grown used to her temper in Paris.

After some minutes – once she'd loaded about a ton of stuff into the unsuspecting boy's arms – they headed towards the school's huge, extremely creepy storage room. All could've gone smoothly, if it wasn't for Sai.

As she went far closer to him than she would've liked to open up the door, she could feel him shudder. He finally spoke out when they'd both entered, she holding out one hand to keep the door from closing and slamming locked. " You still have the same perfume", he noted, almost too quietly for her to hear.

She snarled and looked at him with smouldering eyes. " How many times do I have to tell you?! Stop thinking about Paris, for both of our sakes! What happened there is past, we…!"

Sai, however, wasn't listening. The boy's eyes widened a fraction as he looked at something behind her. " Ino, the door!"

It wasn't until then she realized she'd released her hold. Her eyes widened as well. " Oh shit…"

The door boomed liked thunder when closing and locking them inside.

* * *

Juvenile and stupid as she knew it was, Sakura had found herself avoiding Sasuke ever since she'd found out the full truth about her best friend's health. It wasn't because she wanted to be mean or because she wouldn't have cared, of course, but because for a first time in her life, she was scared, terrified out of her mind. There was no logic or reason in this.

She was about to lose her best friend. Her sixteen-years-old best friend.

Besides, what the hell was she supposed to say to Sasuke?

But that day, noticing how Sasuke left school with apparent nausea, she realized that there was no way she could keep her distance anymore.

Sasuke arched one eyebrow when spotting her following. " Are you keeping an eye on me?" the raven asked, annoyance seeping into the tone.

Despite all, she couldn't help smiling a slightest bit. " No. I'm just going to walk you home."

Sasuke emitted an oddest sound. " Fine. But if you don't wipe off that look, I'm not responsible for my actions – I get it far too much from Itachi already."

Silence had never been as pleasant between them as it was then. Snow started to fall.

-

Sasuke didn't know, and quite honestly didn't even care, how much longer the journey home lasted than usually.

As soon as they stepped into the yard of her house, a voice he recognized very well sounded. " Sasuke! Sakura-chan!" Jumping out of the car Iruka had been driving, Naruto rushed towards them. " Weren't you supposed to be putting away the school's Christmas decorations?"

She spoke before Sakura ever got the chance. " It was finished early."

A wide grin appeared to the blonde's face. " That's great – now, we'll finally have time to decorate your house! Christmas is only two days away, and you don't have even one decoration yet! That's gonna change."

The chaos was in process before she could make a move to stop it.

* * *

Ino had been in several unpleasant places and situations during her life. But this… This was pure hell.

Her fists were already aching for everything she'd put them through as she kept hammering the door isolating her from the rest of the civilized world. " Someone, anyone, can't you hear me!" she screamed, her voice already raw. " Get us the hell out of here, please! I want to get the hell out of here!"

" Ino." It was the first time during the twenty minutes they'd spent trapped Sai spoke. " The others are upstairs. There's no way they could hear you. So sit down and stop straining yourself. Someone will come down here eventually."

As reluctant as she was to admit it, Sai was right. She wanted nothing more than to get out, but this wouldn't get her anywhere else than to hospital for fractured bones.

She firmly refused to look at Sai as she slumped to the floor next to him, seething inside.

At least ten minutes must've passed before he spoke. " I'm sorry." Sensing her look although he didn't glance her way, he went on. " About kissing you."  
She shrugged and glanced towards the floor. " It took two of us." It was the first time she actually admitted even to herself that she, too, was at fault. She surprised herself with managing to actually smile a faint hint. " It was a huge mistake, but… it wasn't entirely unpleasant."

The silence that lingered for a longest time was actually pleasant for once. In the end, it became cut by her yawn.

Sai sneaked a glance her way. " You look like you'd be sitting there sleeping."

She glared at him. " Well I'm sorry for being exhausted after having slept only four hours last night!" she growled.

Sai hesitated for a long time before speaking. " You should sleep for a while. I'll wake you up if anyone shows up, I promise."

In any other occasion, she would've laughed at the suggestion. But at the moment…

She'd rested her head against Sai's shoulder and was fast asleep before she even realized what was happening.

It was unfortunate that the one who eventually found them was the school's biggest gossip. Rumours got wings in an instant.

* * *

Sasuke could only imagine what must've crossed Itachi's mind when her brother came home from the university to find the house fully decorated and cookies safely in the oven.

Stood a couple of steps from the doorway, the Uchiha blinked once, twice, then spoke. " What… happened here?"

" Naruto did", Sasuke replied dryly from the kitchen's doorway. " That dobe is a hurricane."

She was almost ridiculously relieved to discover that Itachi's smile was for once genuine when her brother looked at the blonde. " Thank you."

Naruto flashed one of his smirks. " No problem. Holiday decorator Uzumaki at your service."

Holiday sprit most likely having taken her, Sakura walked up to the older boy with a grin and wrapped a glittering robe to his neck. " It's almost Christmas", the girl announced. If one looked carefully, they could find tightly hidden sadness from her green eyes. " It's time to stop worrying, for a little while."

Itachi nodded, his eyes revealing that he'd understood.

Naruto – obviously having missed what hadn't been said – grinned yet again, rushing towards the two. " Guys, take a look at what you're standing underneath of!" Sure enough, the two were standing under mistletoe. " You know what that stands for, right?"

Before the two had even a slightest chance to defend themselves, Naruto had pushed Sakura just a little, and their lips collided, remaining locked far longer than they should've.

There was a bright blush upon both Itachi and Sakura's face when they finally broke apart, eyes widened and lips somewhat swollen. Quite obviously both attempted to speak, but even one word wouldn't come out.

Eventually, still beat-red Sakura cleared her throat, taking a step backwards. " I'm… going to get… _that thing_… from the attic." With that she sprinted off, leaving still dumbfounded Itachi staring at her distancing back.

The sight made a huge variety of emotions corsage inside Sasuke.

She was far from comfortable with the idea of seeing her best friend with her brother like that, no matter how oblivious the two still were to their emotions. After all, she had hard time accepting anyone as good enough for either one of them. But on the other hand… Ever since her diagnose, Itachi's every waken second had been filled with her. Her brother had never complained, of course, but she hated seeing him lose his own life like that, especially since he was only nineteen. It felt almost like he'd been dying, too.

In a matter of months, she'd be gone. Before that, Itachi needed to have a piece of life that didn't include her, because she didn't want to see him following.

" Teme?" Naruto's voice pulled her out of those thoughts. The blonde, who'd walked up to her at some point, was looking at her with a frown. " Are you okay? You just pulled a weird face."

She nodded, forcing her expression into remaining at least somewhat composed. " Yeah, dobe." She then sniffed the air and frowned. " What's that smell?"

Naruto's eyes widened. " Oh crap!"

As she watched the blonde dash into kitchen, she couldn't hold back a small, lopsided smile.

_That dobe is a walking disaster._

(Some minutes later, she found herself nursing the small burns he'd managed to attain.)

* * *

Shikamaru was gritting his teeth quite firmly when Temari dragged him into a shadowy, extremely shabby building in a part of Konoha he would've never wanted to set a foot into. " There'll better be something really, really good in here", he threatened.

Temari grinned. " Don't worry, I'm sure you'll find it well worth daring to come here in a while."

As they walked down stony stairs, he suddenly heard it.

Laughing and other sounds kids made.

He frowned.

_What the hell is this place?_

Before he could ask, Temari opened a metallic door that screeched loudly, and the sight was presented to him.

Kids, at least twenty-five of them, from age of three to fourteen, running all over a huge, poorly decorated room that had clearly been granted a lot less money than it would've deserved.

He blinked owlishly, extremely uncharacteristically.

_An orphanage?_

" After our parents died, Gaara, Kankuro and I grew here for three years, until our uncle took us in." From Temari's eyes, he could clearly see the affection she felt for this place. " This may be the worst dump in the face of our planet, but I still love it here."

As he stared, speechless, several of the younger kids came crowding all over the girl, followed by a blonde-haired woman with brown eyes. " Give Temari a chance to breathe, will you?" The woman's eyes were warm as she looked at the blonde. " Welcome to the madhouse."

The girl just grinned. " Nah, this is far from the worst, Tsunade-sama", she assured.

The woman then looked at him, arching an eyebrow. " I see you brought a friend."

Temari's smirk turned mischievous while she took a about two-years-old girl into her arms. " This is Shikamaru. I figured it'd do him good to spend a little time with these rascals."

" Well this should be interesting." Tsunade's expression became somewhat dry. " Do you think you could manage a couple of hours? My main-job's harassing me again."

Temari nodded. " Of course. And the biggest kids can help."

Appearing satisfied, Tsunade took her leave. " Good. In that case, I'll see you in a couple of hours."

Moving the child in her arms so that one hand was left free, Temari waved. " Have fun!"

Tsunade muttered something extremely dark on her way out.

Once they were left alone with the kids, Temari flashed him yet another bright smirk. " Now let's get started. We're supposed to get some Christmas decorating done."

He growled. " I don't do stuff like that."

Temari's look left no room for objections. With the aid of children, Temari started to pull him along. " You do now. So get in here."

He forgot to go to Ino's that evening.

* * *

Hinata couldn't help but find it cute how completely baffled Kimimaro was by everything Christmas-related presented to him. All the delicacies, glittering, not to even mention presents… She was fairly sure the boy had never had a proper Christmas in his entire life.

It was about to time to make up for that loss.

She wasn't entirely sure if the feeling inside her was closer to amusement or annoyance as she observed Hanabi babbling at Kimimaro, who barely managed to grasp on everything thrown at his face. Eventually, she decided to rescue the poor boy from her sister's clutches. " 'M-Maro", she called out as she walked up to the two, using the pet name both she and the boy had by then grown accustomed to. " I-I'm just s-starting to make some c-cookies. Would y-you like to h-help me?"

Seeming somewhat grateful, the white-haired nodded and started to follow her.

Hanabi was immediately up as well. " I can help, too."

She shook her head. " M-mom told y-you to go a s-store an hour ago."

Hanabi gave her a glare. " Killjoy", the younger girl accused, then rushed over to her way, knowing that there was no point in annoying their mother any further than absolutely necessary.

As she and Kimimaro made their way towards kitchen, the boy spoke. " I've… never even tasted cookies before", he admitted with slightly visible embarrassment, not looking towards her. " I'm not sure how much help I'll be."

She found herself smiling. Her cheeks felt impossibly hot. " D-Don't worry, I'll s-show you how", she promised.

As they kept walking, neither noticed that they were holding hands.

-

Saisha Hyuuga could actually hear Hiashi's teeth make a screech as the man's eyes spotted the couple disappearing to kitchen.

She gave the visibly enraged man a glare of warning. " Hiashi, don't you dare. Not today. I'm not letting you ruin this."

For a moment, her husband seemed ready to snarl at her. But eventually, his balled fists slackened slightly, and the venom faded from his eyes. " Alright. But if that _thing_ goes an inch closer to my daughter, he's out of this house and back where he belongs in less than a blink", he hissed, then turned sharply and started to storm off. " I need some fresh air."

The couple in the kitchen was fortunate enough to not hear the way he banged the door shut behind him.

* * *

Iruka came home from work very late that evening, after having been working to distract himself from thinking about the Christmas to come – Naruto's last Christmas – for the sake of his sanity. For a moment, panic filled him as he realized that Naruto was nowhere to be found, and all possible horror-scenarios filled his mind, but then he remembered that the teen probably wasn't all that far away after all…

As he approached the house next to his, he found about nineteen-years-old boy Naruto had introduced to him as Itachi (Sasuke-teme's super-cool older brother) sitting on a porch with unlit cigarette in his hand. He cast the raven a warning look. " Please, tell me you're not addicted to those."

Seeming to be an inch from smiling, Itachi shook his head. " I've heard far too much to want to bring this anywhere near my mouth. But holding it… helps me concentrate."

He nodded, not understanding but also knowing better than to ask. After a moment, watching Itachi put the roll away, he spoke again. " Have you seen Naruto? He wasn't home."

This time, for just a moment, smile lit the raven's darkened features, and the teen gestured him to follow without saying a word.

He was lead to a door at the end of a small hallway. When Itachi soundlessly inched it, he just had to smile despite everything.

Inside, on a bed that was far too big for someone as small as Sasuke, the raven was sleeping, but not alone. Right beside her, his arms wrapped protectively around her slightly trembling form, laid Naruto, smile upon his face. He could understand the smile; with Sasuke's head nestled to the crook of his neck and the girl fitting perfectly into his arms, Naruto was most likely fully content.

Still smiling he whispered, careful not to wake the two up. " Itachi, would you mind if Naruto would spent a night here?" He didn't have the heart to awaken his foster-son. Besides, he had a place to go – important date to remember.

Also smiling palely, Itachi nodded to sign he was more than happy with the idea, then closed the door to leave the teens into peace.

They'd walked to the front-door when he found himself speaking. " I was thinking… Would you two like to spend the Christmas in our house?" Seeing Itachi's doubtful look, he hurried to go on. " There's always far too much food for two, and… well, we could use some company into that huge house." He glanced towards the door of Sasuke's room. " Besides, I've got a feeling those two would enjoy it, although they'd never admit it."

Itachi debuted for a moment, seeming ready to say 'no', then surprised them both with nodding. " Alright – so long as you're letting us do our share." He could see the teen swallow down a sigh, and felt a bang of sadness upon realizing just how much to raven was forced to carry on his young shoulders. " We could use some enjoyment and distraction."

He nodded, not sure about what to say. Passing the doorstep, he waved a hand. " See you. Make sure Naruto remembers to come home tomorrow, alright?"

Itachi chuckled slightly. " Of course."

As he walked across the yard, snow rustling under his footsteps, he smiled faintly at the warm feeling nestling underneath his ribcage.

* * *

There wasn't a slightest trace of a sound in the cemetery apart from his footsteps as Kakashi made his way through the tiny paths, careful not to cast a single glance towards all the names and dates imprinted to the stones. Far sooner than he would've been ready for it, he found what he'd been looking for.

This time, he couldn't restrain himself from looking at the name. His eyes felt strange when the letters seemed to burn them.

_Rin Nagairama_

" Hey", he whispered, his voice not much more than a whisper. He had to swallow before he could go on. " I'm sorry it's taken me for such a long time to visit, but…" He sighed heavily, trailing off. He just couldn't bring himself into lying to her anymore.

He stood there in utter silence for what must've been five minutes, completely clueless as to what he should've said, until something caused him to tense up completely.

Snow rustling under footsteps. Familiar presence.

The voice followed after a full minute. " What are you doing here?" He was fairly sure Iruka didn't mean to sound as harsh as the man did, but the tone slashed his heart nonetheless.

He swallowed hard, not looking towards the other. " I had to come to see her", he murmured, his gaze firmly fixed to the name and the dates underneath it. " It's been for almost ten years, but… Maybe she'll forgive me for the delay." Because he definitely couldn't.

Iruka remained silent for such a long time he just had to turn around. The eyes he met sent chills run up and down his spine.

They were exactly the same he'd met _that_ day. Cold, grief-filled, disappointed.

/ _" Why the hell didn't you do anything?!"_ /

/ _" Kakashi, where the hell is she? Damnit, all these bottles…"_

/ _Searching, he felt his whole being grow cold as he realized. " Iruka… She took the car keys."_ /

/ _" You… You could've saved her!"_ /

/ _Huge, already dimming maroon eyes were filled with terror as they stared frantically into his._ _" H-help me, please help me! __I… I don't want to die! __I __don't__…!" /_

/ _" She didn't have to die!"_ /

" I'm sure she will." Surprisingly enough, Iruka's voice didn't sound anything different from the one he'd grown accustomed to so many years – a lifetime, it felt – ago. Brown eyes moved towards the stone, almost like not bearing to meet his anymore. " She was never able to hold anything against anyone."

At that moment, he didn't have a slightest clue of what to say. And frankly, he felt that no words could've made any difference.

This… was too much. He'd been an idiot coming here, thinking that he'd be able to do this.

Inhaling deeply, he started to walk away. " I have to go." He hoped he could've said something – wish Iruka merry Christmas, or say that he was sorry, anything. But his lips had already done all the work they could.

As he passed by, Iruka's hand twitched for a moment, but didn't move.

The only sound heard came from wind as he rushed away, leaving Iruka alone with the pitch-black shadows of past.

* * *

When Naruto woke up the next morning, he got one of the biggest shocks in his entire life. Because for a third time ever, he didn't wake up alone.

Nestled to the crook of his neck, was a head with raven hair.

After the worst stun faded, he grinned at the small sound Sasuke made in her sleep and the look of utter, absolute peace and contentment he'd never faced before. It almost broke his heart to wake up the girl when she – for once – wasn't having nightmares, but they couldn't exactly stay like this forever (though, no matter how much the thought disturbed him, the idea didn't sound completely unpleasant…).

He chuckled at the groan Sasuke made when he ruffled her hair, and again when she futilely attempted to swat his hand away. " Teme, wake up. It's morning already, and my burned up hand's trapped underneath you. So move."

Slowly, a hazy pair of glaring onyx orbs cracked halfway open. " Stop groping me", she snarled as loudly as she could in her current condition.

He scoffed, rolling his eyes and inwardly hissing at the heat rising to his face and places it definitely didn't belong to. " This is _not_ groping, teme. And even if this was, it'd be your own damn fault for falling asleep on me." His blue eyes lit up and another grin that could almost outshine sun itself appeared when he looked towards the window. " Wow! It's snowed a lot last night! It's probably freezing out there!"

Sasuke, obviously not finding neither of those things as a reason to cheer, groaned, subconsciously leaning her forehead against his chest (and causing unfamiliar squirming into his whole being). " So?"

" That, teme, means the pond nearby's probably frozen." He sneaked a glance towards the girl who'd closed her eyes once more, almost like she would've wanted to fall back into sleep. " As a Christmas present, you and Gaara are going to teach me how to skate."

* * *

Ever since that weird day he'd watched TenTen being picked up from school by her father, Neji had been desperate to get an opportunity to go and visit her – to make sure she was alright, to finally find out what it was she was so desperate to hide. With Christmas approaching, he finally got his opportunity.

He frowned when the first sound that followed after doorbell was shrill baby's cry.

_What the…?_

After a moment, the sound died down, and TenTen appeared to the doorway – but not alone. He couldn't help but blink upon seeing the then sleeping, most likely not older than two or three months old, brown-haired baby-boy sleeping in her arms.

As far as he knew, she didn't have siblings. So what was this about?

Exactly how many things had changed during the time they'd spent apart?

The girl's eyes widened dramatically upon recognizing him before she managed to regain some of her composure. " Neji?"

At that moment, he couldn't hold himself back anymore. " Who's he?" he asked, nodding towards the baby.

TenTen took her time before responding. " Our neighbour's son." She then took a breath he could hear and spoke again. " What… are you doing here?"

He swore inwardly at the heat he could feel on his cheeks. If there was a time he had to blush, did it have to be _now_?! He cleared his throat, but his voice still sounded far from its usual. " I… came to bring you a present." Far more clumsily than he'd intended, he offered a small, rather neatly wrapped gift towards her. " For old time's sake."

For a moment, the girl's stood absolutely still, hesitating. Then, as though in a slowed motion, she positioned the baby so that she could accept the offering with one hand. A tiny smile grazed her lips. " Thank you." Coming to think of something, she went on. " Wait a second, will you? I just remembered that I have something for you as well." With that, she disappeared for moment. He could've sworn he heard angry, muffled mutters from the inside. After a moment she returned with a delicately wrapped present of her own, the baby gone from her arms. There was something missing from her smile. " It's nothing much, but…" She bit her lip, then managed another frail smile. " Don't open it yet, alright?"

He accepted it, using all his willpower to restrain the urge to cares her hand. " Of course not. Thanks." He then looked at nothing in particular on the porch below him, feeling annoyingly embarrassed. What the heck was wrong with him? " So… I suppose I should go."  
TenTen made a tiny nod that seemed just as forced as her smile. " I'll see you after Christmas."

He nodded as well, then – with his entire being reluctant to do so – turned around and started to walk away, steps slow and heavy.

Just before he was gone, TenTen called out. " Neji, wait!" Turning around with hope he would've never admitted out loud feeling, he met her soft eyes. " Merry Christmas, Neji."

Had he not been so good at hiding his emotions and less confused, he would've cracked into a smile. " Merry Christmas, Ten."

Turning around once more, he knew there was no way he could've glanced over his shoulder. Because if he had, he would've never been able to leave.

Far away as he was, the cold breeze caused made him shudder when TenTen closed the door between them.

* * *

Later that night, Naruto, Sasuke and Gaara found themselves from nearby a firmly iced bond close to the blonde and raven's homes.

For a reason he just couldn't comprehend, Naruto found his heart beating far faster than usually. " You guys… This is my first skating lesson, so… Be gentle with me, please?"

Sasuke seemed to stifle a laughter. " Do you have any idea of how that sounded, dobe?"

He just managed to restrain himself from sticking his tongue out at the girl. " Pervert!"  
Gaara chuckled a bit while listening to their bickering, until the redhead's cell-phone suddenly snapped to life. He could've sworn the boy's face tensed at who the caller was. " It's Kankuro." Was that fear he saw in the redhead's eyes? " I'll be with you in a couple of minutes, okay?"

He nodded while watching the other turn his back and walk some steps away. " Sure." Once alone with Sasuke, he spoke again. " Now that was weird."

Sasuke grabbed a firm hold of his jacket, starting to pull him along. " Let's get going, dobe. I'm not letting you sneak your way out of this one."

In a few minutes, he and Sasuke were sitting side by side on a wooden bench beside the ice, their skates firmly on.

Naruto was fairly sure that no matter how hard he fought against it, there was a blush of at least some degree on his cheeks as he looked towards the raven. " So… eh… I suppose the first lesson starts now, huh?"

Sasuke groaned, rolling her eyes, but he was fairly sure the gesture was faked more than the girl would've ever admitted to him. " How nice…"

He sulked. " Hey, stop that! This isn't exactly my most dreamy situation, either!" Or so he very much liked to tell himself.

Sasuke sighed heavily, glancing towards heavens up above with something jerking nearby her mouth, then helped him up. " Let's just get started so we'll get this over with."

No matter how hard he tried to tell himself that it was nothing, Naruto couldn't shrug off the shudder he felt inside as they took firm holds on each other, the raven ending up supporting him upright.

He grinned sheepishly at the other's expression. " I told you that I've never tried this before, right?"

It could've been his imagination, but he was almost sure he saw the corner of the girl's lips twitch ever so slightly. " Somehow, I have no trouble with believing you."

He glared. " Hey!"

Several extremely embarrassing minutes passed with them moving on the ice – or rather, Sasuke moving and he doing his hardest to not fall flat on his bottom. But despite the humiliation, he couldn't help but feel safe, happy and content. Once more, all traces of sickness and death faded into some universe far away.

Eventually, with him having almost fallen for the about twentieth time, he could hear Sasuke growl. " You're absolutely hopeless", the girl snarled.

He glared at the other. " Well, Miss Ice-Princess, excuse me for not being at my best with attempting these damn things for a first time!" he bit back, sending a heated glare towards both Sasuke and his skates. " Besides, I'm starting to get a hang of this."

After having watched far more romantic films and soap-operas than he would've cared to confess, he should've known to expect what that slip of concentration would bring. The very last of his balance slipping, he just managed to wrap his arms around Sasuke waistline with a very un-masculine yelp before world started to rush towards him in an increasing speed. He yelped again and Sasuke groaned with discomfort as they tumbled to the ice, with him taking the top.

So close they were, that he could feel the barely traceable change in Sasuke's breathing-pattern the girl didn't manage to restrain, as well as her chest rising just a little bit faster than usually. Realizing that his lips were only inches from Sasuke's he licked them, feeling something that felt like thirst although it couldn't possibly be that.

Neither could count how long had passed until Sasuke finally managed to speak in a voice that sounded a lot more hoarse than usually. " Dobe… Get off me, right now."

A huge part of him would've wanted to, but he couldn't bring even a single muscle to move.

Snow kept falling and stars begun to appear to the sky above them as they lay there, staring at each other. Somewhere in the back of their minds, both wondered if they should've been feeling this awkward.

Little did they know that that moment was the start of something neither had ever experienced before.

-

Orochimaru's chilling eyes gleamed in moonlight while they observed the slightest flush appearing to Sasuke's pale cheeks and the way her body arched subconsciously just an inch closer to Naruto's, noticed how the girl's dark eyes filled with something he'd never managed to catch in them before.

No one observing would've been able to tell if the way his eyes darkened was caused by shadows or not.

" What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Excellent as his hearing was, the voice managed to catch him off guard. His face, however, revealed none of this as he turned around to face a redheaded boy and smiled. " I was only catching a breath of fresh hair."

The redhead wasn't shaken away quite this easily. " You were staring at my friends. Care to explain why?"

His eyes moved towards Sasuke once more. " I was just… remembering back to some old days." He then looked back at the boy and started to leave. " Now, I'm afraid I'm already in a hurry. Have a Merry Christmas."

The boy didn't respond. He could feel glare on his back while walking away.

Just before he was out of earshot, he spoke once more. " Oh yes, and one more thing… Tell greetings to Sasuke-kun, will you?"

This, would very well do as a warning.

He wanted Sasuke to be prepared when he'd come and claim what was his. After, it wouldn't be any fun to finally catch his pray without challenge.

-

Sasuke's head was spinning a bit as whispering of snow under footsteps finally convinced heavily blushing Naruto into moving away from her.

Her eyebrows furrowed immediately when she spotted the thoughtful frown upon approaching Gaara's face. " What's wrong?"

The redhead frowned and hesitated a bit before responding. " I just saw a man watching you. About fifty-years-old, black hair, chilling eyes…"

Had she been able to feel a thing from blood freezing into her veins, she would've spotted how Naruto took her wrist and squeezed tightly.

Her mouth was impossibly dry as she spoke. " What did he say to you?"

Gaara's face tightened still as he obviously sensed her distress. " He told me to tell greetings to Sasuke-kun."

Seeing the uncontrollable look of nausea and near-terror that rose to her face, Naruto frowned. " Sasuke? What's wrong?"

Sasuke's face fell even paler than they'd been, and the two boys could've sworn she shuddered as though she'd been shot. " We're going home. Right now."

* * *

TBC??

* * *

A/N: (shudders) As you can probably tell from the chapter-title and ending, this is from where the 'fun' starts.

As I've mentioned, I'm annoyingly busy with work right now, BUT I've finally made a solid plan for the chapters to come. So, as long as you want to, new chapters WILL keep coming. (dances with joy)

I REALLY have to go now. Please, do remember to review – you now how happy it makes the silly 'lil me, right? (blinks irresistibly)

Until next time, folks – I'll work my hardest to make sure it's as soon as humanly possible! See ya all then, yeah?

Be good, even if it's finally summer! (smirks)

* * *

**Moriko-Demon**: (gawks with wide eyes, then squeals) So I'm not the only one who wanted to read a fic with Sasuke having a cancer! I've been waiting for such for ages now, and finally decided to make one myself. (grins) (sniff) Poor Sasuke! (huggles, only to get smacked, HARD) I'm so happy you like Itachi in this! Sasuke reallly needs someone like him. (I'm so happy we know now the truth about him! Yay!)

Kimimaro is so one of my favourites – poor thing went through a pure hell, and in the end died fighting for someone like Orochimaru! (sniffles a bit) (WOW! That must've been an amazing convention-trip!) (dreams of that Kimimaro-cosplay) (Damn, I'd love to go into one of those conventions, but I think the closest is thousands of kilometres away, so…) (cringes)

Enormous thank yous for the review! See you, ya?

-

**SerenitySnow412**: Woah – I'm speechless here!

Colossal, gigantic thank yous for the absolutely heart-warming review – I'm so proud to you think the story's getting better and better, and even like my way of writing! I really hope you'll keep looking forward for more.

**-**

**Chibi-Chaaan**: (snickers) Ninja fast indeed! I suppose I was hit by quite a spur of inspiration.

Poor Sasuke, Naruto AND Itachi indeed! (starts bawling) Fate is never merciful on those three, huh? (sniffs)

Huge thank yous for the review! See ya around, yeah?

-

**VyseN**: First of all… Oh my goodness – I'm so sorry to hear about your stepfather's brother! I can only imagine the emotional turmoil you (as well as everyone else around and close to him, of course) are going through! (hugs) I won't be arrogant enough to say I know how you feel, but I'll listen anytime if you need it, 'k?

But now, let's slide towards brighter topics, yeah?

Hey, that fic you mentioned sounds interesting – I'll definitely check it out as soon as I have time! Thank you so much for the tip!

There's still room in my 'Let's kill Orochimaru' –group, although it's managed to get A LOT of members. LOL, being trapped with the Teletubbies for eternity would indeed be a splendid punishment, but you're probably right. A freak like him would most likely end up finding pleasure from it. (groans with disappointment)

Enormous thank yous for the review – I'm so happy you think the chapter was good job! (pumps fist into air, squealing ear-splittingly) Don't be a stranger, yeah? (grins)

-

**realityfling18**: Yay! I'm so happy you love the SasuNaru moments, as well as KimiHina –couple! (Heh, I have no idea of where the idea of it came, but once it struck I was powerless under its power – now that you mentioned it, she's indeed a perfect person fro healing poor Kimi-kun! Right now, I hope so bad they would've met in the manga!)

Gosh, I couldn't agree more – Orochimaru so deserves to be hunted down and… (Heh, if I'd put my thoughts here, my account would probably be deleted.)

Massive thank yous for the review! I really hope you'll enjoy of the chapters to come!

(Btw, thank for the wishes of luck for the job! Loving it so far – I really hope it'll stay that way!)

-

**Kai's kitty**: (blushes) One of the best?! And there's a cake with my name on it? WOAH – thank you so much!

(hisses) I REALLY hate Orochimaru right now. and Hiashi isn't exactly on my top favourites –list, either… (hisses some more)

Aww… I can't help but sigh dreamily at the thought of Sasuke and Naruto escaping into a land of dreams! (sniffs) So pretty! (gets smacked to head by Sasuke)

Massive thank yous for the absolutely heart-warming review – I'm so glad you liked the chapter! (dances around with joy) C ya around, yeah?

-

**Selene98**: Woo-hoo, I'm so glad you like KimiHina and the lil' square spinning! (Heh, I don't think I've face a single fic where Hinata's father would've been a good guy, either. That guy just gives – me, at least – creeps, although he's softened up.) (LOL, gosh, SaiTema?! That'd be so hilarious!)

I'm also thrilled you found so many things you liked from the chapter! (squeals ear-splittingly) (Goodness, how I enjoyed of making that hospital-scene! And I actually laughed out loud when writing that 'on the same side' –line of Mizuki's.)

(chuckles) 'The Namikaze Chronicles' indeed sounded familiar, huh? (snickers) I just couldn't resist the temptation!

Heh, I'm happy I made you feel good with that lil' revelation of mine. Your reviews make me feel so high that I'm overjoyed I could return the favour to at least some extend. (grins)

Welcome to join 'Let's kill Orochimaru' –club! There's already quite a number of members, but there's always room for one more enthusiastic participant! (grins)

Massive thank yous for the amazing review – gosh, how glad I am you liked the chapter! Stay tuned, yeah?

-

**Belladonna-Isabella**: Dear goodness – you found that many scenes you could like most?! Wow! I'm absolutely flying here! (jumps around with squeals of utter happiness)

(Btw, you can't possibly repeat yourself too much when announcing hatred for Orochimaru. I also get violent when thinking about that creep.) (grins) (Damn, it'd be satisfying to see Itachi beat him into a bloody pulp!)

Enormous thank yous for the AMAZING review – I'm absolutely thrilled you enjoyed the chapter that much! Yay! I really hope you'll like what's to come just as much.


	6. Twilight Zone

A/N: Geez, did it take me ages, but now the update is finally here! (wipes forehead)

I know you'd love to get going already after having been waiting for such a long time, but first… Massive thank yous for all those incredible reviews! I'm absolutely baffled by how many they were! (sends out hugs and chocolate-chip cookies) Thank you! Hey, **about the responses to reviews**, because they're not on their usual spot anymore. couple of reviewers have suggested me to respond to review through 'reply to review' –route, so I've decided to give it a shot. So, responses to your reviews _should be_ in your mailboxes by now. We'll see how that goes – I've never been exactly fluent with technology… (sweatdrops) (Anonymous reviews will be handled in a different way, of course.)

Hey, one more thing **about the previous chapter**, and actually, those before that! I'm so proud about managing to do this, so I just have to mention. This story includes – and highly likely won't include – any other OCs than Hinata's mother, I think every other name mentioned even once is from the manga/anime. (squeals loudly) I can't believe I finally made a story without any!

But now, off to the business! Here's chapter six. I really hope you'll enjoy!

WARNING: Yet again, I had hardly any time for the process of proofreading, so this chapter may be filled with spelling- and grammar errors. (cringes) Please pardon me! (gives huge puppy-dog eyes)

DISCLAIMER: The song in this chapter is 'Chasing cars' from Snow patrol. Me no own. (sniff!)

* * *

CHAPTER 6: Twilight Zone

* * *

Sasuke had thought she'd faced hell the night before, upon finding out just how close to her Orochimaru had crept. The next morning, she discovered just how badly she'd been mistaken, because that was when the real hell broke lose.

Quite true, Itachi was a calm person. But that morning, there was a look of utter wrath upon his face as he growled at Ibiki and Mizuki. " You let… _that thing_ get away after what he did to my sister and who knows to how many others!"

The genuine look of apology upon Ibiki's face did nothing to soothe the wrath. " I'm truly sorry, but we had to follow the protocol."

Itachi's eyes seemed almost red. " Because of that protocol of yours, my sister is stalked by that freak! Do you have any idea of what could've happened if Naruto and Gaara weren't with her yesterday?"

It was at this point Mizuki's hand reached out towards his weapon.

Itachi's whole frame started to shudder as he kept glaring. " You…! You were supposed to protect her, to make sure none of that shit will ever happen to her again! So where the hell were you yesterday? Where the hell are you every freaking time you're needed?"

-

While the house became filled with noises and hassle, Sasuke found a huge, all consuming headache striking.

This was just too much for her. All this noise, shouting, memories… She wanted to get out, as fast and far as possible.

With a lot of effort, just managing to keep herself from wincing with pain, she forced herself into getting off of the couch to which she'd slumped. " I'm… going to get a glass of water", she announced.

If kitchen was the furthest she'd get to, she'd gladly accept that much.

While sauntering away, she was quite pleased with discovering that it seemed like no one had noticed.

-

For once in his life, however, Sasuke was mistaken. Under furrowed eyebrows blue eyes observed her every step as she disappeared from view.

" You should go", Gaara's voice pointed out. There was a look of bemusement upon the redhead's face. " I'll make sure there'll be no casualties in the meantime."  
Naruto flashed his friend a grateful grin. " Thanks."

With that he, too, disappeared from the room, following Sasuke's trails.

Before long he entered the kitchen, and a wrench-like sensation appeared to his chest when he found the raven leaning against a kitchen-sink, her back to him and shoulders completely tense. He could hear the faint wheeze of her deep, desperate breaths. " Sasuke, what's wrong?" He then clicked. " It's about Orochimaru, isn't it? He did something to you."

So fast that it caught him off guard for a moment, Sasuke spun around and started to dash out.

He frowned, standing so that he blocked the girl's way. " What do you think you're doing?"

She glared at him. " What does it look like? Walking away from your interrogation. Now get out of my way."

Instead of complying, he moved his hands and forced Sasuke so that she was with her back against the wall.

He knew he was taking a huge risk with pushing Sasuke into a corner like this, that he could end up losing all the trust and closeness they'd managed to gain. But he wasn't about to let her try and deal with all of this alone.

After a huge swallow, he braced himself and uttered. " Sasuke… What's the deal with you and Orochimaru?"

He'd never seen coldness as harsh as he faced in the girl's eyes just then. For a long moment the raven's fists clenched until she spoke through gritted teeth. " That… is none of your business." With that, she attempted to just walk away, but he was faster.

He could feel Sasuke grow completely tense when he grabbed her wrist, the hold clearly stating that he was _not_ about to let go. Hazardous eyes shot his way. " Get off me, right now."

He narrowed his eyes, not affected. " Not until you tell me what the hell that freak did to you. I'm not letting you keep all this bottled up inside any longer – it's not healthy!"

The change upon Sasuke's face happened so slowly that he could just see each and every faintest fragment, could almost feel how the raven's heartbeat shot up. The Uchiha's chin tightened to almost inhuman extend, and all colour disappeared from her usually milky skin, leaving it almost greyish. When the girl finally looked at him, her eyes reminded him of those of trapped wild beast's. " So you want to know, huh?" Something he could only call utter shock filled him when he saw the tears that slowly gathered into the onyx eyes, released when a damn that'd been built up for a very long time was finally shattered. " He raped me! He… He fucking raped me!" Sasuke didn't seem to be in a state coherent enough to feel the tears as they run to her cheeks. She was trembling uncontrollably. " He made me feel so disgusted with myself that I wanted to die! Is that what you wanted to hear?" She was breathing raggedly, seeming an inch from passing out.

For a very long time Naruto body shut down completely under such a surge of emotions that he wasn't able to handle it.

_He… He raped her?_

Tears filled his own eyes, and before he could properly process it he'd wrapped his arms tightly around the raven, pulling her into a tight hug that clearly stated he wasn't about to let anything harm her. He decided to disregard how she tensed up against his touch.

It seemed to take ages before his voice finally worked, and even then it was incredibly hoarse. " I… I'll never let him hurt you again, Sasuke." He'd never been that serious about anything in his entire life. " I'll make damn sure he'll never get anywhere close to you again. I promise."

Through still spilling tears, the raven emitted a bitter laughter, her face buried into his shoulder in shame. " There's no way you could keep me safe from him, dobe."

His hold on her tightened still, but he didn't say a word.

They stood there in silence for a long time, Sasuke shuddering lightly against him under a breakdown she'd probably needed for a long time already.

-

When Sasuke and Naruto had been missing for about half an hour already, Gaara became suspicious, perhaps even worried.

His steps slow and soundless, he left the room without anyone noticing and proceeded towards kitchen. He ended up freezing to the doorway when a sharp, stab like sensation pierced his chest, and could barely keep himself from wincing.

Inside, Naruto had his arms wrapped tightly around Sasuke, with the raven pulled so close to the boy there couldn't be more than millimetres between them.

Sensing his presence, Naruto lifted his head, then grinned palely at his worried, questioning expressions.

' _She'll be okay_', the blonde mouthed.

He nodded, and couldn't keep himself from smiling ever so slightly as he watched the two go back into their own little world where no one else had access to.

He was snapped out of his messed up thoughts when his cell-phone snapped to life. Yet another worried frown crossed his features as he noticed it was Kankuro.

Carefully making sure no one would hear, he picked up. " Where the hell are you? Everyone – even the police – is looking for you!"

" _You know I can't tell you that._" He noted that his brother sounded out of breath. " _I just called to let you know I'm still alive after that phone-call yesterday._"

His eyes hardened with terror. " You've gotta get the hell out of Tokyo, do you understand? If those freaks catch you…!"

" _How many times do I have to tell you? I'm not going to get caught, and I'm not leaving without her!_" There was a sound he couldn't recognize in the background. " _I've gotta go. __You, stop worrying. I'll call you as soon as I can._"

" Kankuro, you…!" But the boy had already hung up. He growled, barely resisting the urge to smash the phone straight against a nearest wall.

Damnit, how much of a headache siblings were in days like this!

* * *

Itachi had absolutely no idea of for how long he'd been sitting on the porch of he and Sasuke's house when there was suddenly a mug-full of something steaming offered his way. " It's chamomile tea", Sakura's familiar voice explained. " It should help you calm down."

He accepted the drink, although putting something into his mouth was the last thing he wanted with the nausea he was feeling at the moment. " Thanks."

There was a moment of silence while Sakura sat down beside him and watched the slowly falling snowflakes. Eventually she spoke again. " I just thought I should tell you… Sasuke's very lucky to have a brother like you."  
He almost snorted, only managing to restrain himself in the very last moment. Since Sasuke had ended up under his watch, she'd been raped and almost killed herself, and he hadn't even managed to notice her leukemia until it was already too late. And now… He couldn't even protect her from Orochimaru. " Somehow, I have hard time believing that."

Sakura didn't say a word for a longest time, most likely not exactly sure of which words would've been the correct ones. In the end, she moved slightly and wrapped a pair of tight arms around him. He shuddered for a moment, not exactly sure of how to feel about this, but in the end relaxed against her, too tired to even think about resisting.

" There was nothing more you could've done, 'Tachi", she all but whispered, much closer to his ear than would've been necessary. " And if you try to tell me anything different, I'll smack you. Got that?"

He was surprised by how teary the chuckle he gave was.

As they sat there, trying to overcome the new shockwave of threat they'd just faced, both failed to notice just how comfortable they felt in each other's company.

* * *

As soon as he could be sure no one was there to listen, Mizuki stepped out of the house and picked up his cell-phone. After having dialled them for so many times, he had no trouble with remembering the correct numbers.

Orochimaru replied in less than five seconds. " _Now what?_"

He glanced over his shoulder before daring to speak. " They're getting on to you", he announced in a tense voice. " If you don't make your move soon, we'll both get caught."

" _Stop being impatient, Mizuki_", the man's voice clipped. " _Let me assure you, everything's under perfect control._"

His eyes lit up with hope. " Really?"

" _Of course._" Orochimaru sounded extremely irritated. " _In New Year's Eve, Sasuke-kun will get a visitor he would've never known to expect. And if you do your job as planned, you'll be very, very well rewarded._"

His eyes flashed, then moved to side when the house's door opened and Ibiki stepped outside, looking at him with suspicious eyes. He forced himself to grin a bit as he looked away. " I've gotta call you later, sweetcheeks. See you at New Years." Hanging up, he turned back towards Ibiki. " My New Year's date."

For just a moment, he could clearly see suspicion and hesitation in Ibiki's eyes. Then, just as fast as it'd came it was gone again. The larger man turned around. " In case you're done flirting over phone, get back in here. We've got a lot of work to do."

-

Going back inside, Ibiki felt his eyes harden.

He'd been suspicious for a while. Now, it was finally confirmed.

He was about to find out exactly what it was his partner was hiding, although he was fairly sure he wouldn't like the results.

* * *

With Christmas just an inch away and Neji with his mother coming over for a rather long holiday visit, Hinata's household found itself very busy.

Standing on a ladder, trying to find certain decorations hidden to higgest of closets, she glanced downwards to Kimimaro's face. The poor boy was completely pale, most likely completely terrified by the idea of facing even more strangers.

" I-It'll be a-alright", she tried to reassure the boy, finally finding what she'd been looking for and starting to climb down. Receiving Kimimaro's gaze, she just had to smile. " I-I'm sure t-they'll like you."

Something suspiciously close to dizziness washed through her when – stunning them both completely – the boy smiled as well, albeit extremely faintly. " Thanks."

She should've paid more attention to what she was doing, because the very next second she found herself flying through the air. She didn't have even the time to scream before she'd already landed – but instead of hard floor, against something soft.

Blinking with stun, she turned her head to discover that Kimimaro had managed to catch her. Her face immediately gained a shade of extremely dark red. " T-Thank you."

Kimimaro seemed to be blushing, too, while gently letting go of her, because snow-white spots appeared to his cheeks. " It's alright", he all but breathed out.

She opened her mouth, although she had no idea of what was about to crawl out, but became interrupted when there was a cough coming from the doorway of the room. Both blushed even worse when finding Hanabi looking at them with a suspicious expression. " Now what were you two doing?"

" N-Nothing m-much." She cleared her throat, managing to regain some composure. " W-What's wrong?"

" Neji and his mother just arrived. Mom told me to come and get you to help them carry some stuff." With a wide grin, her sister grabbed Kimimaro's hand and took the stuff she'd been carrying. " C'mon, we've also got a lot to do." Before she could make a move to stop it, her sister had dragged the poor defenceless boy with her.

With a deep sigh, her heart still making flips while she could feel the boy's touch against her skin, she started to make her way outside.

-

The just about last thing Neji wanted to do in his current state of mind was visiting relatives. But, of course, his mother had never been too good at taking his opinion to question.

He had no idea of for how many sets of food and presents he'd carried when Hinata spoke all of a sudden. " I-Is something w-wrong?"

Glancing towards her, he responded mechanically. " No, I'm fine."

The girl was looking at him with genuine worry. " Y-You haven't s-said much of a w-word."

Looking away again for a while, he pondered his options. He most definitely didn't feel like sharing all this with Hinata, but… She was one of TenTen's best friends. Maybe she could help, after all.

" I… visited TenTen a while back, that's all", he confessed, feeling almost embarrassed for some reason. " She was watching over a neighbour's baby."

He felt a sensation of alarm run down his spine when he noticed the frown rising to Hinata's features. " T-That's odd."

He, too, frowned. " Why?"

Hinata took her time before replying. " B-Because… none of h-her neighbours h-has babies."

He felt cold shivers take over.

If that baby hadn't been neighbour's… Then where the hell had it come from?

What was TenTen hiding?

* * *

That day, Shikamaru finally decided to make up for all the times he'd stood Ino up lately.

As they laid on her bed, simply kissing and nothing more as Ino had insisted, he couldn't push away the feeling that something was out of place.

Nonetheless, he shuddered a bit with pleasure when Ino lips caressed his neck, followed by a light, teasing bite. " Where were you?"

He smirked sheepishly a bit. " 'Sorry. I suppose I was… a bit distracted."

She snorted. " A bit? You've been zoning out all morning."

Just then, her cell-phone – which was currently laying on a desk beside them on a book – snapped to life. Groaning loudly, he outstretched a hand.

" Now what are you doing?" Ino inquired, sounding suspicious.

" Silencing that beast", he announced. " If we're going to have this morning all to ourselves, that one's gotta go."

But, instead of the phone his hand hit the book, sending both items crashing down to the floor. He failed to hear Ino gasp loudly while bouncing into a sitting position when something slid to view from amongst the book's pages.

She was too late to prevent the disaster.

In a matter of seconds, about half a dozen of emotions from disappointment and rage to nausea went through him when a series of passport-sized photographs taken in one of those stupid booths landed neatly to the floor in front of him.

As though presenting a movie, they showed him how Ino and that foreign exchange-student – Sai, wasn't it? – looked at each other with dazed eyes, then leaned closer and allowed their lips to meet for several shots until Ino sprinted off, leaving the completely puzzled boy alone.

All of a sudden, several things made sense to him.

Why Ino always acted so strangely around that boy, why she'd grown distant straight after the French had appeared…

Suddenly, he was feeling sick to his stomach thinking of all the times she'd said 'I love you' and 'I miss you' over phone.

He heard Ino swallow hard. " Shikamaru, this…"

" Don't", he hissed, unable to rip his gaze away from the pictures no matter how hard he tried. " Don't you dare try to tell me that's not what it looks like, because I've got fucking eyes in my head."

The girl kept her quiet for a longest time, then all but whispered in a slightly shuddering voice. " I… I'm so sorry. I… I swear, I never meant for… that to happen. I never…"

Once more, he interrupted her with a shake of head. It was almost impossible to hold in all the nausea. " If _that_ would've meant nothing to you, you would've already destroyed those pictures", he pointed out in a sharp tone.

With that, he decided to leave before he'd do something he'd regret later. He was, however, stopped by a hand that grabbed his wrist. " Shikamaru, please…!"

" Don't…. touch me", he growled, feeling himself start to tremble with fury. Hard as he tried, he couldn't bring himself to even look at her. He opened his mouth, but instead of spitting out words continued his march away.

He was almost out when Ino spoke once more, her voice clearly giving away she was going to cry. " Where are you going?"

He laughed bitterly. " Wanna hear the truth? As far away as possible." With that, he stormed out of the room.

There was only one person he could think of going for support right now.

* * *

Later that evening, Iruka – who'd yet again fallen asleep into the office room inside he and Naruto's house – woke up to voices talking.

" _How is she?_" Itachi's voice was far more tense than he'd ever heard it before, almost desperate enough to break his heart.

The next voice was just about the last one he'd expected to hear, caught him so badly off guard that his head was sent spinning. " _She's a bit shaken and exhausted, but a bit of rest and painkillers should make her feel better. Though… Those pains worry me – you said they've become far more intense lately, right? I'm afraid I'll have to prescribe stronger medication to help her feel more comfortable…_"

The talking went on, but he couldn't make out another word while his eyes widened to dramatic extend.

_It can't be…_

He had no idea of what possessed him into doing so, but he found himself making his way out of the room, most likely to reassure himself that the voice didn't belong to whom he feared. Unfortunately, he wasn't proven mistaken.

He was almost sure that at least for a moment, his heart stopped when he faced the widened eyes of Kakashi Hatake. No matter how many words there was swirling through his head, he was struck completely speechless by the emotions between nausea and extreme weakness that washed over.

Kakashi's Adam's apple moved as the man swallowed thickly. " I… should just go." He couldn't bring himself to move a muscle while the man walked by.

Itachi, who was still standing nearby, looked at him with a frown, wiping his eyes with a swift motion. " Are you alright?"

He nodded, though it seemed anything but convincing. Outside the house came a sound of car being started and driving off. With a blink, he managed to wake himself enough to be able to turn around and start to walk out. " Would you please tell Naruto I needed some fresh air?" He was out before Itachi could even think of a response.

* * *

Faster than anyone would've expected, it was New Year's Eve. Loyal to her nature, Ino figured that the best way to nurse the almost unbearable ache she'd managed to cause herself was to arrange a huge party. Pretty soon, she figured that it'd been a huge mistake. She, Sasuke, Sakura and Hinata were far from party-mood while occupying a couch, absentmindedly looking at all the celebrating people around them.

Sasuke gave her a brief sideways glance as she searched through the huge room with her gaze for umpteenth time. " He'll show up", the raven told her, purposely avoiding using Shikamaru's name in fear of finding the emotional reaction it'd cause.

She gave something from between a groan and a chuckle. " Let's just face it already, okay? I screwed up, badly. I wouldn't be surprised if he'd never step into the same room with me again." She frowned, deciding to switch topic. " Speaking of absent people… Where's TenTen?"

" I hope she's okay", Sakura sighed and rubbed her face with one hand. " She's been acting weirdly for a while now."

All they could do was nod in agreement.

After some moments, Sakura started to struggle into a standing position. They were almost sure the girl was blushing slightly. " I… should go. I kinda promised to hang out with Itachi tonight."

They could all see Sasuke's eyebrow twitch just a bit. " As in… a date?"

Now, Sakura was definitely blushing. " No – not a date! Just… He wanted to show me something to thank me for… doing him a favour. It's nothing big."

For a first time since her confrontation with Shikamaru, Ino laughed genuinely. " Yeah, right…"

Sakura shot a glare towards her, then waved a hand. " I'll see you guys later – tell me everything about the party then, 'k?"

After byes, the pinkette left as fast as humanly possible.

Ino found herself shaking her head. " She's in a deep trouble." She then lifted an eyebrow upon noticing a certain face. " And she isn't the only one."

The two others looked towards the same direction to spot no one other than Naruto standing by the doorway. For a moment the blonde seemed a bit lost amongst all the people he didn't know, then smirked brightly upon spotting Sasuke.

The raven got up, in her opinion with far more effort than it should've required. " I'll better go and see what's up with that dobe."

She grinned brightly, finally managing to forget about Shikamaru and her idiotic mistake for a moment. " Have fun."

It looked like this party could become at least a bit interesting after all.

* * *

It was almost pathetic, really, that Neji was having such a horrible time in the party that he was almost glad when his cell-phone suddenly came to life. He frowned upon noticing who it was. " TenTen?"

He felt extremely cold shivers upon hearing a sob. " _I… I tried to call everyone, but… but no one replied._" He heard baby's hysterical crying from the background. " _I… I know I have no right to ask for anything, but please help us._"

His eyes hardened. " Where are you?"

The girl sniffed. " _In that park nearby my house._"

He nodded although she couldn't possibly see it. " I'll be there in five minutes."

* * *

Inside the small orphanage of Konoha everyone was affected by holiday spirit – well, almost everyone.

Shikamaru, who'd been preparing some dip, nearly jumped when Temari's voice snapped him out of his deep thoughts. " You've been staring at that bag of chips for the past five minutes. Amusing as it is, you're starting to freak me out."

He let out a deep sigh, not exactly having the guts to look at the girl. " Sorry."

They kept preparing the celebration meal for a little while longer, until Temari finally broke the silence. " You still haven't talked to her, have you?"

He snorted with unnecessary bitterness. " What's there to talk about?"

" She made a huge mistake. That much is pretty obvious. But…Are you sure you want to lose her over a stupid kiss?"

He remained silent for a while to ponder. " I… don't know." And frankly, he'd asked that question from himself for so many times that he was getting sick of it.

" I don't have a flaming clue of what kind of a person she is, but I'm pretty sure she's feeling like shit right now." Temari's voice was so unnaturally soft that he just had to look at her. " She's paid dearly for what she's done already. You should talk to her."

He frowned, suddenly very interested in the dip-sauce in front of him. " What if I can't forgive her?"

He could sense Temari's shrug. " Then you can't, silly. But you can't know without trying." With a sideways-glance, he saw her taking a look towards nearby clock. " She's got a huge party tonight, right? You should go."

Still unsure, he looked at her once more. " Are you sure?"

She nodded, grinning brightly. " And if you end up regretting, there are chips and hyperactive kids waiting for you right here."

He just couldn't fight against the smile that appeared. " Thanks."

She smacked his head playfully. " Now go."

He couldn't help but wonder why his steps were so very heavy when he started to leave. " I'll see you later."

One potato chip was thrown at him with baffling aim. " Didn't I say 'go' already?"

-

Temari had been hurting many times during her life. But never had she felt agony that would've come even close to the one she was feeling at the moment, watching the boy leave. The small grin, however, didn't die from her face.

Fortunately, she was distracted before she would've fallen apart when the orphanage's backdoor, which was located almost directly behind her, was opened without much of a knock and a very familiar person entered.

She arched an eyebrow. " Now what are you doing here?"

There was a chillingly serious look upon Gaara's face. " We need to talk", the redhead announced. " It's about Kankuro."

* * *

Sasuke's head felt oddly hazy as she walked towards Naruto, arching one eyebrow. " I never thought you'd actually come." She swore just how clearly her voice gave out she was glad by seeing him there.

He grinned. " I couldn't resist the temptation to show up at a party, especially when Iruka actually gave me a permission. Besides, I wanted to make sure you're okay."

She fought the urge to groan. " I don't need a babysitter, either."

Naruto rolled his eyes. " Yeah, right…" Then surprising them both, he offered a hand towards her. " Well, now that I dragged myself here… How about a dance? Show me how much you've learned from those stupid classes."

Naruto seemed mildly stunned when she actually accepted his hand.

She'd never backed down on a challenge.

* * *

/ _**We'll do it all  
Everything  
On our own**_

**_We don't need  
Anything  
Or anyone_** /

* * *

Just like every single time they danced, Naruto and Sasuke felt reality sliding far away, into a place from where it couldn't crawl to harm them. Naruto couldn't keep himself from grinning widely as he realized that for a first time, the girl didn't seem to feel any vehemence towards his touch, instead slid closer without even noticing it.

* * *

/ _**If I lay here  
If I just lay here  
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?**_

_**Forget what we're told  
Before we get too old  
Show me a garden that's bursting into life**_

**_Let's waste time  
Chasing cars  
Around our heads_** /

* * *

World rotated slower than normally as they started to sway slowly, both noticing only each other. To them, there was nothing but music around them.

* * *

/ _**I need your grace  
To remind me  
To find my own**_ /

* * *

Very slowly, wary of Sasuke's possible reaction, he pulled the girl even closer, so that he could feel that familiar scent of her hair, sensed the touch of her cool skin.

" Dobe… You are aware that you're crossing each and every personal line, right?" Sasuke murmured in a hoarse voice. But despite her words, she wasn't making even a slightest attempt to escape from his hold.

* * *

/ _**All that I am  
All that I ever was  
Is here in your perfect eyes, they're all I can see**_

_**I don't know where  
Confused about how as well  
Just know that these things will never change for us at all**_ /

* * *

He closed his eyes, unable to keep himself from grinning although his chest was starting to hurt ominously. He was feeling too damn good to worry right now. " Hmph."

* * *

/ _**If I lay here  
If I just lay here  
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?**_ /

* * *

Both shivered a bit with surprise when the song ended without even a slightest warning, leaving them feel oddly exposed and vulnerable. Neither dared to take a step to one way or another, almost like fearing it'd break something.

With the music gone, Naruto couldn't keep leaning against anything for strength anymore. A deep, shuddering sigh escaped him as he used all his willpower to keep himself from slamming a hand against his chest when merciless pain seemed to want to tear it apart.

Sasuke, of course, noticed this. Her obsidian eyes became sharp. " Dobe, you're feeling sick, aren't you?"

He tried to grin, but he could only imagine how badly it shuddered. " I'm fine, it'll pass by."

Sasuke groaned, starting to lead him out of the room and house. " C'mon, you idiot. I'm not letting you pass out or kill yourself because of a stupid dance. I'm taking you home."

As Sasuke kept holding his hand, Naruto realized something that both amused and disturbed him.

Although he was in a lot of pain at the moment… With the raven so close, he was still feeling like he'd been standing on the top of a world.

* * *

Ino wasn't exactly sure of for how long the party had lasted – with her being able to do nothing but watch all the sickeningly happy couples around her dancing – when she suddenly jumped upon hearing Shikamaru's very familiar voice. " We need to talk."

They ended up into a distant hallway where the music could be heard only absently. She found herself swallowing as she looked into her boyfriend's eyes, searching for any sign whatsoever. " So… Have you decided anything?"

The boy nodded with a terrifyingly stern expression. " You hurt me, Ino. You're not an idiot, so I think you know that much."

She nodded slowly, feeling almost smothering lump in her throat. She didn't really have any other choice but to agree. For a second she opened her mouth to tell she was sorry, to beg for forgiveness, but closed it again upon realizing that no begging could really help anymore. Instead she whispered something else entirely after a moment. " Can you ever forgive me?" _Can you ever trust me again?_

" I don't know", the boy admitted loudly, sounding like he'd been sighing. " But… I want to try. I think we deserve that much."

She nodded, feeling almost ridiculously happy. No matter how huge mess her feelings were, she didn't want to lose Shikamaru, the safety she felt around him.

Ever so slowly, she outstretched a tentative hand and grabbed his. She'd never felt as relieved in her entire life as she did when he squeezed back.

-

What the couple couldn't know was that they were being watched.

From shadows, where no one could've spotted him from, stood Sai, who'd just came back inside after having decided he needed some fresh air. He was staring at them with dark eyes that were filled with such utter heartbreak it would've broken anyone's heart. Then, ever so slowly, he managed to create his usual mask that didn't give away any emotions.

He'd known he'd get his heart broken the moment he'd given it away. He couldn't be surprised, really.

His steps didn't make even a slightest sound when he turned around and started to walk away.

* * *

Neji had never run as fast as he did then, TenTen's desperate voice ringing in his ears. By the time he reached the park, he was so out of breath that he was just about ready to pass out.

TenTen was indeed there, sitting in a swing with her back to him and holding a firmly wrapped bungle in a firm hold. Without a second's hesitation, he started to approach. " Ten?" he called out as soon as he was close enough for her to hear. " What's wrong?"

The girl's eyes were filled with tears and gratitude when she turned to look at him. He felt a slash of intense rage when seeing a huge bruise decorating her right eye. " He… He fell ill, and won't stop crying. He's got high fever."

His head was buzzing as he walked up to her. " What are you doing outside?" Though he had a bad feeling he already knew the answer.

TenTen looked away. " He… threw us out. I tried to get to the hospital, but… I just couldn't walk."

He nodded, just then looking at the helplessly crying baby. Yet another set of shivers ran through him. It was the very same baby-boy he'd seen in her care when he'd visited.

He wished from the bottom of his heart that he could've just uttered all the questions burning his tongue, but now wasn't the right time. His face stone-hard, he took the baby as gently as he possibly could from TenTen's exhausted arms, momentarily stunned by how the tiny one snuggled closer and stopped crying with a contented sound. " I've got enough of money to pay a taxi to the hospital", he announced.

TenTen seemed hesitant. " It's on the other edge of the town", she pointed out.

He shrugged, surprisingly skilfully shifting the baby so that he could support the girl just a little as she got up to wobbling legs. " Don't worry about that. I'm sure I'll come up with a way for you to repay me."

Despite everything that must've happened that night, she smiled faintly.

* * *

Hinata had never been much of a party-person. That's why no one was surprised when she headed home much before the New Year would've started.

Carefully avoiding arousing the suspicion of the others in her apartment – which meant the three adults, who were currently talking heatedly in living room, and Hanabi, who'd fallen asleep to a couch – she tiptoed upstairs and towards her room.

She, however, never made it there, because strange, muffled noises stopped her. Glancing into the room that'd been given to Kimimaro, she felt a bang in her chest. The sleeping boy was shuddering while laying on his bed. There was a deep frown upon his face while he kept muttering incoherently. She could've sworn she heard name 'Orochimaru'.

She'd never interfered with his nightmares before, but this time she couldn't just pass by.

Extremely tentatively she walked up to the boy and laid a hand to his shoulder. " M-Maro, wake up." When he didn't respond, she shook his shoulder ever so slightly. " Wake u-up, you're h-having a nightmare."

At first nothing happened. Then, without much of a warning, the boy's eyes snapped open and fist started to fly towards her face. Fortunately, he managed to stop it just in time upon recognizing her face through sleepy blur.

His eyes widened dramatically, and the fist dropped with almost impossible speed. " I… I'm so sorry!"

Shaken as she was, she managed a smile that wavered a bit. " I-It's alright", she reassured him, then thought about reaching out a hand but put it back down instead. " You d-didn't hurt me. You just h-had a b-bad dream." Seeing the expression upon his face, she frowned. " A-Are you alright?"

Seeming extremely embarrassed, Kimimaro looked downwards and swallowed, but didn't say a word.

She found herself smiling a bit again. " M-Maybe I c-could keep y-you company for a w-while."

It could've been a trace of a smile she saw upon his face when he nodded, still not looking at her.

By the time year finally changed, they'd both fallen asleep.

* * *

Year was already changing by the time Anko entered the school's rather big, currently dark math class. She sighed upon discovering the figure slumped to one of the benches. " I was afraid I'd find you here when I saw your car at the parking lot." She took a seat on a bench beside his, taking as comfortable position as she could. She spoke again when the other didn't react to her presence in any way whatsoever. " Now… What are you doing sitting here in the dark? Because frankly, I can't imagine any way more depressing to spend New Year's Eve."

It was silent for quite a while, until Iruka's familiar voice finally sounded. " Naruto… went to a party, and… I just had to get away, for a while. From the waiting, memories, Kakashi…"

She blinked a bit. " Is Kakashi back in Konoha?" When the heck had that happened? She could see a nod in the dark. " Why didn't you tell me?"

Iruka replied after a second. " Because… I still have absolutely no clue of exactly what to feel about it."

She kept her quiet for quite a while, wondering how to set what she wanted to say so that she wouldn't get Iruka defensive. " 'Ruka… It's been for almost ten years, and I'm sure you're both exhausted with this crap." She looked towards him, but couldn't see his expression without light. " Have you ever thought about forgiving him and moving on?"

Iruka made an odd sound she couldn't recognize. " Do you have any idea of for how many times I've tried, how badly I'd want to do just that?" There was another unidentifiable sound. " But… I can't, I just can't, not when I hear her scream every freaking time I fall asleep." The noise he made next was pretty surely a chuckle, although it sounded strangely wet. " Do you know what's the most stupid thing? I'm not even sure which one I'm trying to forgive – him or myself."

There was another long moment of silence while she allowed Iruka to compose himself. Eventually she pulled out a bottle of sake and pushed it towards him. " I know that's no magic pill that'll take away all pain and confusion, but… Maybe it'll help a bit."

" Thanks", said the voice she could easily recognize.

She just had to smile. " Happy New Year, 'Ruka", she said while opening her own bottle.

" Happy New Year."

They drank in silence while watching rockets go off outside the window.

* * *

Sakura felt almost unbearably cold while standing by the university, cruel wind slashing like thousand knives.

After what felt like forever, there was a sound of door opening. Turning around, she found Itachi stood by the doorway. " I'm sorry about the wait. I lost track of time while studying."

The coldness forgotten, she smiled a little. " It's alright." While entering, she frowned upon realizing something. " Where did you get the key from?"

" I'm often studying in late hours, and managed to talk professor Tazuna into giving it to me." There was some redness on his cheeks, but it could've been caused by the cool air from outside. " He told me to use it wisely."

She was almost sure she was blushing.

They walked up more stairs than she could count, and she was already about to ask where exactly the older boy was taking her when Itachi suddenly stopped to a small door. It opened with a nearly ear-exploding screech, and she gasped when ice-cold air slapped her straight against the face.

Were they going to the roof?

Her eyebrows furrowed yet again when Itachi lead her outside. " What are we doing here?" she asked, finding herself shivering a bit with cold.

The boy smiled somewhat mysteriously. " You'll find out soon enough."

She opened her mouth, but all words got stuck into her throat when extremely loud bangs erupted what felt like right next to them and cheers came from all over the town. Looking towards the darkened sky, she gasped upon finding breathtakingly beautiful rockets in all imaginable shapes and colours painting it.

" You can't see them better from anywhere than here", she heard Itachi explain.

At the moment, both managed to forget about all the dark shadows reaching out for them. Neither cared nor knew how many minutes passed by while they stood there, awed like children by the sight in front of them.

She didn't feel cold anymore.

* * *

That evening, Ibiki stayed at work for far longer than anyone else.

The last one to leave was Mizuki. The white-haired waved a hand as he parted. " Try not to spend the entire New Year's Eve working, alright?"

He made a grumpy sound, waving his own hand. " Yeah, yeah. Have fun with your date."  
For a blink, he could tell from Mizuki's eyes that the man had absolutely no idea of what he was talking about. Then, so skilfully it almost fooled him, a smile came. " Sure thing. See you." So saying the man was gone.

As soon as his partner's steps had disappeared, he pushed himself up from his seat and walked up to a drawer Mizuki had always insisted to keep locked; there was nothing but embarrassing pictures of his conquests, the man had said. It took only one firm bang of his huge fist to get it opened. His chest grew cold immediately as all his darkest fears became confirmed.

There, laying in shadows in the very bottom, was a necklace that held a strange symbol. Orochimaru's symbol, as he'd learned during these long investigations.

He'd been right all along.

Just then, the office's door opened, and Mizuki re-entered. " I forgot my…" The man trailed off upon noticing what he was doing.

His eyes were hard and unforgiving when glaring towards his partner. " For how long?"

Mizuki shrugged, face revealing only fear of getting caught as all masks dropped. " Eight years."

Nausea squirmed inside him. They'd been partners for nine. " Why?"

The white-haired shrugged again. " He paid me better." There was a small pause, as though world had been holding its breath. " But, now…Sorry about this – it's nothing personal."

Perfectly simultaneously, they pulled out weapons.

In just a blink two deafening bangs were heard. They were, however, never heard outside for they got lost to sounds of rockets going off.

* * *

It took a lot of threatening and all the strength she could summon at the moment, but eventually Sasuke managed to squeeze Jiraiya's phone-number out of Naruto and force the blonde into bed.

Without noticing it, she kept pacing around the small room until Jiraiya was finally done with checking up on Naruto. " Well?" she asked immediately, her voice more tense than it'd even been.

The man sighed. " This little dobe will be alright for now, but I'm glad you called me." The man gave Naruto a stern look. " Haven't I already told you not to strain yourself, brat? Do I have to strap you into bed?"

Naruto gave the man a sheepish grin. " Sorry."

Jiraiya responded with ruffling the blonde's hair with a somewhat sad smile. " Now rest up, kiddo, and enjoy of the New Year. I've got a date with Tsunade to catch up."

Naruto scoffed. " 'Bout time!"

After giving the teen a somewhat immature look and saying bye, the man started to leave. Just when they were out of Naruto's earshot, Sasuke stopped the man onto his tracks, her body feeling unnaturally tense. " How bad is it?"

Jiraiya's misery filled look was all the response she needed. Her chest grew cold and tight as he spoke. " Take good care of him, alright?"

She nodded stiffly.

After the man was gone she stood absolutely still for several moments before she was finally ready to return to Naruto's bedside. Her body felt heavy and exhausted, defeated, when she slumped down.

Naruto, on the other hand, grinned at her. " See? I'm fine. You made a huge over nothing, teme."

-

To Naruto's utter surprise, Sasuke's eyes seemed to be filled with worry, almost terror. " You idiot… Do you have any idea of how badly you scared me?"

His eyes widened ever so slightly. " Sasuke…"

The raven sighed heavily, closing her eyes for a moment, as though exhausted. " Naruto… Don't ever do anything like that again."

He grinned brightly. " Meh, teme, stop worrying. You should know me better than to think I'd go down with something stupid like that. I'm fine."

Sasuke gave him a wry look that clearly said 'No, you're not'.

Without noticing it, he pushed himself into a sitting position, and started to lean closer towards the girl's face. One of his hands brushed her pale cheek. " Feel that, teme? I'm still alive and kicking. Everything's okay."

It was then he became aware of the fact that he was only a breath away from her face, with her onyx eyes boring straight into his. And his control slipped completely.

He heard Sasuke gasp into his mouth when his lips became pressed tightly to hers, enclosing her into a kiss that whispered out absolutely everything he had. His mind was too much in a buzz to be able to tell whether she responded or not, if she tensed up or relaxed – all he could feel was her sweet taste.

Then, as sharply as the kiss had started, he became much too aware of what he was doing. His eyes widening dramatically, he pulled himself away from her, recoiling backwards and staring at her completely dumbstruck expression. " I… I'm so sorry!" Far faster than would've been healthy, he bounced out of the bed and started to make his way away. " I'll… go and get something from the kitchen."

At that moment, he was too hasty to get out of the bed and Sasuke's eyes to notice how the stunned raven's hand twitched slightly, desperately trying to reach out for his.

As soon as he was safely out of Sasuke's earshot, he leaned heavily against a wall and let out a strangled, shaky sob, his eyes tightly closed. " Damnit…"

He'd have hell a lot of work with trying to fix this one.

So rattled he was, that the voice caused him to gasp with startle. " I suppose I should've known you'd be with her." Rapidly turning his head to side, he saw a man with raven hair and the most chilling eyes he'd ever seen emerge from shadows. _Orochimaru._ " But oh well… You're not much of a hindrance."

His eyes narrowed. " I won't let you lay a finger on her!" he snarled through tightly gritted teeth, balling his fists.

Orochimaru chuckled darkly. " We'll see about that."

-

When Naruto didn't come back in five minutes, Sasuke knew to be alarmed. That feeling became even more apparent when she heard floorboards screech under the weight of footsteps that approached the room.

Her eyes widened slightly as she felt a much too familiar presence.

_Oh shit…_

Where the hell were the guards Ibiki had assigned?!

Before she could move a muscle to prepare for a fight, the door opened, and a man she knew far too well was stood in the doorway, silhouetted by shadows. " Good evening, Sasuke-kun."

Her eyes narrowed. " What the hell did you do to Naruto?"

Orochimaru gave an icy smile. " Oh, don't worry about your little friend." It was then she saw the needle the man was carrying. " Right now… You should just worry about yourself."

She gave an audible growl. " Stay the hell away from me, you piece of shit! Get the hell out of my life!"

Before she could do more than blink, the man was stood behind her. She gasped despite herself when feeling the needle pierce the skin of her neck. " Sweet dreams, Sasuke-kun. When you wake up, you'll be back where you belong."

She fought against the sedative for as long as she possibly could, but eventually her mind grew numb and she fell into utter darkness, straight into Orochimaru's arms.

* * *

TBC??

* * *

A/N: (shudders) I can already feel those sharp objects pointed towards me, so, without much further I'll just get going.

Please, don't forget to review, yeah?

'Til laters, folks! I promise to update as soon as I can, promise!

Take care!


	7. Reaching Out

A/N: Damn, it's been a long time from my last update! (winces) I'm so sorry! It's ridiculous, really, that I seem to be busier in the summertime than during school months. But hey, at least there's now FINALLY a new chapter! Hooray!

First of all, thank you from the very bottom of my heart for all those baffling reviews! (HUGE hugs and ice-cream for all of you) I've said it before, and I say it now; this story would never be shipped out without you guys. Thank you!

Awkay, seeing how long I've kept you waiting and what kind of a hellish cliffie I left you on, I suppose it's time to jump on. I really hope you'll enjoy!

* * *

CHAPTER 7: Reaching Out

* * *

The first thing Sasuke felt upon waking up was such crushing, all-consuming headache that she wished she could've gone straight back under.

That desire didn't diminish any when Orochimaru's far too familiar, velvet-like voice floated into her buzzing ears. " Ah, so you're finally waking up. Good. I already feared the dosage was too big for you."

Emitting a growl that sent yet another stab through her skull, she forced her eyelids to inch slightly and saw a dark, blurry figure through thick mist. Slowly but inevitably her vision became clearer, and she found herself snarling despite the pain it caused once Orochimaru's face became crystal clear. " Leave… me… alone."

Orochimaru chuckled. " Why would I do that, especially now that I have you right where I want you?" Every single muscle in her body yearned for a chance to resist and kick back when the man kneeled to her level and started to examine her, but there were restraints on her wrists and legs. Ropes, as it appeared. " You seem to be doing rather well considering your condition."  
She felt like laughing out loud. Fine? Her head was about to explode, her throat was on fire and she felt like throwing up. But she, of course, wasn't about to give him the pleasure of knowing any of those things.

Red hue then filled her eyes as her pounding head started to clear out. " What the fuck did you do to Naruto?" She swore, if he'd cut even a single hair from that dobe's head…

The man merely chuckled. " So that's all you're worried about? Affection between human beings never fails to amaze me." There was a small, torturous pause. " He'll have quite a bit of headache, but if his heart doesn't fail him he should be alright."

She found herself hissing. " You asshole…"

" There, there, Sasuke", the man shushed. " There's no real point in insulting me."

She kept hissing while twisting her wrists in their binds, bravely keeping herself from wincing when flesh was disturbed.

While Orochimaru retreated to work on something by a nearby table, she gazed around with surprisingly sharp eyes. Shivers of alarm crossed her when she realized that the tiny, dark room – more like a chamber than anything else – was a place she'd never even seen before. " What is this place?"

The man didn't grant even a glance her way. " You really should relax, Sasuke-kun. Getting worked up like that isn't healthy for you."

She growled, pleased to discover that her headache was slowly starting to subside. " You didn't answer my question."

As the man turned around, he had a prepared needle in his hand. " This, Sasuke-kun, is now your home." She couldn't do anything much but sit still and wait for the inevitable when the man thrust the needle through her skin. " Now relax, this will make you feel a lot better."

* * *

The very first thing Naruto heard when starting to wake up was a voice he distinctly recognized as Itachi's. " … uto, can you hear me? That's right, open up your eyes."

Very slowly, he managed to do as ordered, and saw two extremely blurry faces above him. " Yngh…"

What the hell had happened? Why was his head hurting? Where was…?

His eyes flew wide, frantic, and if it wasn't for Itachi's hand holding him back he would've bounced into a sitting position. " Sasuke…!"  
His gaze clearing out, he could clearly see utter terror and worry upon both Itachi and Sakura's face when the two looked at him.

It took a while before Sakura spoke out. " You… You were hit to the head, hard. We found you laying unconscious."

The look upon Itachi's face made him feel thousand times worse than he had already. " Naruto… There are two guards laying unconscious outside, and Sasuke's missing. Where is she? What happened?"

All of a sudden, Naruto wished from the bottom of his heart that he'd stayed unconscious.

* * *

When Kimimaro first woke up, he had absolutely no idea of where he was and why his other arm was completely, utterly numb. His eyes flashed open and he prepared himself to fight, but relaxed in an instant when finding Hinata sleeping soundly, cuddled as close to him as possible and a small smile upon her flushed face.

He'd smiled only few times during his life. That's why he was surprised to find such tickling the corners of his lips.

Sensing his movements, Hinata also started to stir. She blushed to extremely dark shade of red when realizing their position. " G-Good morning."

" Morning", he managed, all other words slipping out of his grasp.

Hinata yawned and stretched, then seemed to come to think of something. " Y-You have a therapy s-session today, right?"

He blinked, then nodded upon realizing that she was right. " Yeah." Although he'd been extremely sceptical about it all first, he'd soon found himself daring to trust on his therapist – a extremely warm woman named Tsunami – a little. Still, he had a very long way and several sessions to go. Even with the connections of Hinata's mother, it was a miracle he'd managed to get one session for New Years Day.

Hinata was silent for a long moment, and when she finally spoke she wouldn't look at him. " M-Maybe I could g-go with you. If you w-want me to."

He couldn't fight against the smile any longer. It took time before the words came. " Thank you."

Finally looking at him, Hinata smiled back with a bright blush.

After all he'd been through, he should've learned that his happiness wasn't destined to live long. And surely enough, before either one of them could say a thing, the room's door was opened after an extremely brief knock, and they saw Hiashi Hyuuga stood by the doorway.

At first there was an expression of utter stun upon the man's face, but soon enough it transformed into that of nearly exploding wrath. " Hinata, get out of this room. Right now."

Not really wishing to find out what disobeying would've caused, the girl did as ordered, flashing one last desperate glance towards him before closing the door soundlessly.

As soon as they were alone, Hiashi spoke with a look in his eyes that caused him to shiver. " I've been very, very patient with you, allowed you to stay under my rooftop and nearby my children. Now, you've officially crossed the line." The man turned around to leave. " If you go anywhere near my daughter again, I'll make sure you'll never have a home again."

Sound of the door closing brought only one word to his mind.

Verdict.

* * *

After Naruto had woken up and full gravity of the nightmare started to clear out, full-scale chaos erupted with the trio trying their hardest to sort out the situation. The situation wasn't made any less overwhelming by what seemed like army of cops herding into the house, asking questions and poking around absolutely everywhere.

Naruto himself went into near panic attack upon realizing just what was happening, and if it wasn't for Itachi and Sakura keeping him sane plus sedatives someone – probably Itachi – managed to find, he would've lost his mind completely.

While the teen was drifting somewhere near sleep for the time being, the house's doorbell rang yet again. Although there was quite a bit weighting their minds, Sakura and Itachi arched eyebrows when spotting a sling decorating Ibiki's arm. " Now what happened to you?" Itachi inquired.

Ibiki's expression was grim. " Mizuki happened", the man all but snarled through gritted teeth. " Apparently, he's been working for Orochimaru for quite a long time. I got this as a reward for finding out."

Sakura's face fell chalk-white. " You… You caught him, right? He's behind bars now."

The large man obviously fought off a sigh. " I'm sorry, but he managed to get away with the aid of a smoke bomb. All possible resources have been ordered to find him – and Sasuke."

Itachi started to feel dizzy when all sunk in ever so slowly. Disbelief, guilt and rage fought over control in his eyes when they clashed with Ibiki's. " How… How the hell is this possible?" he demanded in a choked voice, his fists trembling as they balled. " How could he do something like that, without anyone noticing?"

Ibiki's eyes were soft and sad. " He covered his tracks well – after all, that's what he's been trained for." The man hesitated for a longest time before pulling something from his pocket. " Do you recognize this? He dropped it when escaping last night."

Unbearable wave of nausea washed over him as he did recognize. It was a silvery necklace that represented a mighty eagle with its wings spread. A necklace that'd been left from their mother to Sasuke when…

At that moment, it all became too much for him.

-

Sakura was almost startled when Itachi turned around sharply, starting to all but dash away. " Where are you going?"

Not turning to look at her, the boy responded with a voice that gave her chills. " Away."

Although she should've known better, she grabbed his wrist. " Itachi, wait! You should..."

She'd never seen Itachi's eyes flash the way they did when turning towards her, almost startling her. " I… I _have to_ go, Sakura", the older boy stated in a dangerous, even voice that nearly shuddered. " Because if I don't, I… I don't know what I'll do." With that he marched towards the house's basement floor.

It was silent for a long time until Ibiki spoke. " Do you think he'll be alright?"

She had hard time speaking through the lump that'd appeared into her throat. " To be honest… I don't have a clue." Deciding that she needed desperately something to do, she too started to march away. " I'm going to check up on Naruto. You… Please, do whatever the hell it takes to find that bastard and bring Sasuke back home." _Before it's too late_, some cruel, grim voice in the back of her screaming mind whispered.

* * *

During their relationship, moments of utter silence had always been rare between Ino and Shikamaru. That's why it felt strange to them both that neither found another word to say while they walked through the streets of Konoha. (Mostly, it was because they didn't dare to talk about what they should've.)

Suddenly, as though it'd been a sign of some sort, Ino saw something that brought a tiny smile to her face. " Shika, look."  
Imagination or not, she was almost sure there was a smile on Shikamaru's face as well while they watched two tiny birds – neither knew the species – almost like playing around in snow nearby, circling around each other in a way that made even the most cynical soul wonder if they were in love.

" Call me a fool, but I swear those are the same birds we saw three years ago."

He smirked. " You mean that night when you broke your wrist during ice-skating practice?"

She swatted his head playfully. " No. I meant the night of our first date."

" That _was_ the night you broke your wrist", Shikamaru pointed out matter-of-factly.

She rolled her eyes. " You can be a real man sometimes, you know that?"

It was then her eyes spotted something a bit further from the birds, and her heart nearly stilled when blood turned into ice.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't deny facts. It really was Sai on a morning jog, running on a path that'd unavoidably lead right past her.

" Ino?" Shikamaru's voice barely reached her. " Are you okay in there?"

She managed a smile. " Yeah." She swallowed a bit. " You've been talking about going to get some coffee for a while, and there's a great café nearby. Why don't you go now? There's something I need to do."

The boy gave her an odd look while starting to walk away. It was a pure miracle he hadn't spotted Sai. " Okay. I'll be back soon."

-

Shikamaru's thoughts were spinning in about million places at the same time while he made his way towards a café. That's why the sight before him struck so suddenly that he found himself jolting.

Nearby the café, Temari was talking to some guy with red hair – wasn't that Gaara, that boy who'd started in their school a while back? Both two had strange looks he couldn't recognize upon their faces.

He wasn't prone to jealousy. But still, he couldn't understand what else it was that filled him like fire when he witnessed the two exchange a hug before going their separate ways.

For a longest time he felt almost unbearable desire to sprint after Temari, but something – he had no idea of what – nailed him to the spot.

After a small eternity he finally managed to convince himself into turning around and starting a walk back towards Ino.

He never went to get coffee.

-

Ino had no idea of what possessed her into doing so, but before she could do a thing to stop herself her feet had taken her to Sai. Hearing her steps, the boy tensed up completely, and didn't seem any less taken aback when turning his gaze to look at her. Deceitfully soon, however, his usual smiling mask took place. " Hi."

" Hey", she responded weakly. Several moments must've passed before she could bring her mouth into working again. " Look, Sai… I've been meaning to come and talk to you for a while now."

Sai looked away with an expression that could only be called that of immense hurt, no matter how hard he tried to disguise it. " I know."

She blinked in utter stun, struck completely speechless for quite a while by this oddest sensation of pain that settled to underneath her ribcage. In the end, there weren't many words she could find. " Sai, I… I'm so sorry."

The painfully obviously faked smile upon his face did nothing to ease her pain. " Ino, it's alright. He's your boyfriend – I'm glad you had things worked out." He then glanced at something over her shoulder. " I wouldn't wish to be in the way." Then, with nothing but a brief wave of hand, he jogged off.

She had no idea of for how long she'd stood there, staring towards the direction to which Sai had disappeared and fighting against the urge to follow him, when Shikamaru's voice caused her to jump. " What's up?" Turning her gaze, she found him observing her with a frown. " You look like you'd seen a ghost."  
The smile she created quivered. " It's nothing. I just…" Once more, her eyes strayed to where Sai had gone. " … feel a bit chilly, that's all."

Shikamaru seemed dubious for a moment until he took her hand and started to pull her with him. " Well, let's get going before you'll freeze to death. That movie's about to start."

She nodded and started to follow, although she still didn't know to which direction she wanted to go.

As they walked, she frowned when realizing something. " Where's your coffee?"

Shikamaru's response didn't come immediately. " I didn't feel like having it anymore."

Her frown deepened at the unexpected words, but she didn't ask further, not wanting to hear a half-hearted lie. Instead she took his cool hand into hers, hopelessly trying to warm it up like she had once. She failed to notice that Shikamaru didn't squeeze back as tightly as he had before, either.

Hard as she tried, she couldn't shrug off a feeling that something was missing.

* * *

Some hours after her rather strange waking up, Hinata knocked on Kimimaro's door. " Yeah?"

As she entered, she was surprised to find the look of startle from the boy's face. A frown marred her features. " W-What's wrong?"

Kimimaro looked away, seeming to focus on the room's window. " It's… nothing. I just… Maybe it's better if I go alone after all."

At first she was confused – usually, Kimimaro wouldn't shut down on her like this – but pretty soon she clicked. " I-If father said s-something to you…"

Kimimaro tried to shake his head in denial, but failed to meet her eyes. " No, it's… I just want to go alone, that's all." Seeming exasperated, the boy started to make his way towards the door as though it'd been his passageway to safety. " I'm already running late, I should go."

She surprised them both with grabbing his hand when he was just about to make his way out. Their confusion-filled eyes met. " I… I don't w-want him to make this decision for me, too."

-

She didn't notice she barely stuttered, but he did. And that made his hand squeeze vigilantly around hers, as though holding something that could break from touch.

This could be the biggest mistake of his entire life, lead into utter disaster. But at the moment, all that felt scarily insignificant.

Hinata felt a small smile appearing. " Let's go."

She failed to hear her cell-phone bleeping.

* * *

After having decided that there was nothing she could do for Naruto, Sakura didn't have much difficulty with finding Itachi. She'd taken only a couple of steps from the living room that was still filled with policemen when sounds of someone throwing up loudly allured her towards bathroom.

She knocked softly. " Itachi?"

After a couple of seconds there were sounds of the toilet being flushed and water running before the door was opened. Itachi seemed paler than she'd ever seen him while glancing at her with apparent embarrassment. " I'm sorry, about…" He trailed off.

She shook her head with a small, frail smile. " It's okay. We're all jumping at the walls here – I can't even imagine what you're going through."

Itachi sighed and rubbed his face, appearing exhausted. " Is Ibiki still there?"

She nodded. " Of course. He's trying to organize more troupes for finding Sasuke and Mizuki." She could feel a spark of determination in her eyes when she looked at him, noticed how defeated his expression was. " We'll get her back, you know? We'll find her before that asshole does anything irreversible."  
Itachi looked at her, seeming confused. " How can you be so sure?"

She gave him a tiny, extremely sad smile. " Because if I wasn't, I'd start screaming and in all honesty, I don't think I'd be able to stop."

Both jumped a bit when there was a distant sound of doorbell ringing – almost like they'd expected the arrival to be the one they would've desperately wanted it to be. In the end, deciding that there was no way Itachi could've performed the functions it would've required, she sauntered to the door.

A look of relief spread to her face when she saw Gaara behind the door. " Hey."

The boy, who seemed like he hadn't slept for ages, responded with a nod. " Where is he?"

She nodded towards the door of Naruto's room. " I really hope you'll get through to him." She'd managed to find Gaara's phone-number after having 'borrowed' Naruto's cell phone while the blonde had been knocked down by drugs for a while. She hoped from the bottom of her heart that the boy would be more use than she'd been.

The redhead sighed a bit, obviously knowing how huge job he had ahead. " I really hope so, too."

She followed Gaara's distancing back with her gaze for a while, until her cell-phone started to bleep. Although she knew it was a nasty thing to do she winced when discovering that it was Ino.

After hesitating for several minutes she picked up. " Look, Ino…"

As per usual when agitated, the blonde didn't wait for her to finish. " _Sakura, I just saw Sai, and had a horrible day with Shikamaru. What the hell am I going to do?_"

She'd been on a thin ledge so far. Now, those words finally pushed her over the edge. She was screaming before even a slightest part of her could guess it coming. " Damnit Ino, would you shut up for a moment! Can't you make it fit into your head that other people may be having even worse problems than you?" She'd also been struggling against tears for a long time – fearing that she wouldn't be able to stop them once they were released – but at that moment… " That… That…"

Ino was absolutely silent for a long time, listening with obvious stun when she broke into tears over phone. " _Sakura? Hey, Forehead, what the heck is going on? What's wrong? You're scaring me here!_"

She barely managed to speak through sniffs. " S-Sasuke… She's…" She just couldn't push out anything else.

" _Sakura._" Ino's voice was firm and commanding, almost comforting, although rapidly arising terror could also be heard. " _Calm down and tell me everything, from the very beginning._"

* * *

Rays of sun poking his face, Neji woke up slowly with a frown and a crushing pain on his neck. All his eyes met was endless white, and a smallish window.

It took him a while to remember where he was, and even longer to finally sense the warmth pressed against him. Blinking slowly, he turned his gaze. His eyes softened immensely when he found TenTen fast asleep beside him, her head fallen to rest against his shoulder. For a moment he reached out his hand to wipe a lock of stray-hair from her face, but changed his mind. He just didn't have the heart to risk waking her up now that she was finally resting.

Someone else, however, didn't have the same decency. TenTen jolted against him when the small room's door was opened, and a rather young female-doctor – Tsubaki – with messily tied hair and sleepy eyes entered. She smiled somewhat tiredly when spotting them awake. " 'Morning."

In a matter of blinks, TenTen was wide awake and looked at the doctor with demanding eyes. " How's Aki?"

Neji had to frown slightly.

_Aki?_

Why did that name sound so familiar?

Tsubaki sighed a bit, but didn't seem as gloomy as the night before. " He has high fever, however I believe it's going to start dropping now that he has proper treatment. He needs a lot of rest, but otherwise I'm quite sure he'll be alright." Walking soundlessly to the tiny bed in which the baby was resting, she smiled. " Well how about this, our little patient seems to be awake already." She then took her pager as it started to bleep, and flashed a tiny, reassuring smile their way once having read the message. " I'm sorry, but I have to go now. I'll come and check up on you as soon as I can. Try to get some rest in the meantime, alright?"

They nodded simultaneously.

As soon as the doctor was gone, they walked slowly to Aki's bedside. He didn't realize he was smiling when he first noticed the expression of utter relief upon TenTen's face, then looked down at the baby who yawned and made an adorable tiny sound.

" Did you hear that, baby?" TenTen all but whispered, outstretching a hand and stroking Aki's cheek with her fingertips. The tiny one leaned closer. " You'll be just fine. Everything's going to work out."

Neji opened his mouth – what he was about to say a complete mystery to him – but absolutely everything froze into his throat when Aki suddenly opened his eyes. His insides turned into ice.

Those pale-coloured eyes… They were precisely like his. And now that he looked at the baby's brown hair, compared their shade to that of TenTen's…

His eyes uncharacteristically widened by shock, he looked at TenTen. The expression of horror upon her face told him clearly that she knew exactly what he'd discovered.

He swallowed thickly. Suddenly, he knew precisely what TenTen had been hiding for all this time.

Despite his shock, he could hear the girl beside him gulp as well. " Neji…"

Not noticing it immediately, he took two steps backwards, slowly and cautiously. " I… I need to think", he stated, not having a clue of what else to utter. " I really need to think." With that, he spun around and started to dash away.

He needed to get away, as fast as possible. Because otherwise… He was pretty sure he'd suffocate, for the hospital seemed to be sucking all air from his lungs.

* * *

In the meantime, Tsubaki felt just about the same when entering her tiny office and facing the man inside. She had to blink for a couple of times before everything registered to her. " Mizuki?" Then – as the gunshot wound scarily nearby the man's chest registered to her – a flare of panic washed through. " What the hell happened to you?"

Her fiancé winced when she started to examine the wound. " Trust me, you don't want to know."

She'd seen several wounds of this type during her career, and that's why she knew so clearly that it made the little air that'd been in her lungs fade away.

This wound was from something much harder than ordinary handgun. She'd seen enough of people shot by policemen to realize that.

Her eyes were wide when they rose to meet Mizuki's, which held only pain – no remorse, fear or sadness. " What have you done?"

Those eyes she'd once thought she'd known grew darker. " Just take care of it, and don't ask any questions, alright?" He winced again when she poured disinfectant into the wound with a heavy hand. " It's much better for you… if you don't know."

Unable to speak out another word, she continued the work of patching up the damage. Although she'd done this for about a thousand times before, her hands were now trembling uncontrollably.

When she was just about done, she felt Mizuki's eyes on her. It required all her courage to look up and meet them. " Can I trust you to stay quiet about this?"

It was then she knew for sure. This was _not_ the man she'd fallen in love with – the one who'd bought her roses on Valentine's Day and kissed her nose.

She swallowed thickly. " Of course."

As soon as the man had left without any byes whatsoever, she picked up her phone. Her hands were shaking so badly that she barely managed to dial numbers.

It seemed to take for ages before someone finally picked up. " _Hello?_"

Her throat felt dangerously tight as she spoke. " I-It's me, Tsubaki." She exhaled deeply, but it didn't help any. She didn't notice the couple of tears that escaped to her left cheek. " I've… I've got a message, for Ibiki."

Once she was done, she rushed into bathroom and threw up.

* * *

Naruto had never felt as helpless in his entire life as he did that day.

He'd promised – _sworn_ – to protect Sasuke, and now… Now she was in the hands of that creep because of him, because he'd failed and his concentration had slipped. He – they all – could lose her, all because of him. No amount of drugs pumped into his system could erase those facts.

It didn't make him feel any less like crap that everyone seemed to be more worried about him than her. Itachi and Sakura had both fussed around him, offering medication, food and drinks, tried to convince him that none of this was his fault. He barely heard a word they said through the fog clouding his head.

He was almost falling into troubled sleep due to medication once more, when the room's door opened. He didn't think he'd ever been as glad about seeing someone as he was when recognizing Iruka's face. (Had the situation been any other, he would've grown suspicious by the man's dishevelled appearance and apparent signs of sleepless night.)

The man offered him a sad smile. " Hey. I'm so sorry I couldn't come sooner – Itachi only just managed to call me."

He didn't give a damn about where the man had been or what had happened when the older wrapped a pair of arms around him and pulled him close. A huge lump appeared into his throat, but he managed to keep himself from crumbling into tears. " I-Iruka, Sasuke… That bastard, he took her. He…"

" I know", Iruka hummed soothingly, stroking his hair. " I know."

It was silent for a long while after that, with him inhaling all the comfort he possibly could from the man who was as good as a father to him.

It was fortunate, really, that he didn't see the look of utter sadness that appeared into Iruka's eyes as the man kept holding him. " I'm sure she'll be alright", the brunette all but whispered, pulling him just a little bit closer. He took this opportunity to lay his tired head against the man's strong shoulder. " They'll find her, Naruto, I'm sure."

_Yeah_, he thought grimly. _They may find her, but what'll be left of her?_

He sniffed before he had even the slightest chance to disguise it, and he couldn't keep his lips from moving. " 'Ruka, before she was kidnapped I… I did something." He hesitated for a long moment before daring to finish. " I… I kissed her."

Iruka was silent for a while, and he was almost sure the man would start to yell at him. But in the end nothing such came. " Do you think it was a mistake?"

For a long moment he was sure he'd say 'yes'. But in the end he surprised himself once more. " No." Despite all, saying it out loud and admitting it to himself gave some warmth to underneath his ribcage. " No, I don't." It was amazing, really, how much lighter and more certain he felt now that those words were out from weighing him down.

Some softness appeared into Iruka's eyes, though he couldn't see it for he wasn't looking. " You'll get to tell her."

Blinking a bit, he distanced himself from Iruka to look at his face, examining for any sings of uncertainty. " You sound so sure", he finally pointed out.

Iruka smiled a little. " Knowing you two, I've got a pretty good reason to be. Sasuke is too stubborn to give up – I'm sure you know that, too."

Her merely nodded and looked away. No matter how many times he repeated those words inside his head, he just couldn't bring himself into believing them.

There was a soft knock that startled them both. Had he looked, he would've noticed the look of relief that spread to Iruka's features when the man found Gaara stood by the doorway with an uncertain, worry-marred expression. " Sakura called me", the redhead explained.

Taking this as his cue to leave, Iruka stood up. " I'll go and check out if Ibiki and the others have found anything."

As soon as the man was gone, Gaara closed the door and walked up to him. Nothing needed to be said, for everything necessary could be read from their eyes. Knowing how much the redhead hated physical contact, he shuddered with surprise at first when Gaara wrapped a pair of tender arms around him, but in the end relaxed to the hold and buried his face into the boy's shoulder.

-

Gaara couldn't do anything else but close his stinging eyes and hold on when Naruto's entire frame started to shudder from soundless sobs the blonde had barely managed to hold back so far.

He saved the eruption of his own emotions for later, afraid of its violent intensity.

* * *

The voice came from so far away that Sasuke was almost sure it was just her imagination. " Sasuke?" Something soft and warm caressed her cheek, and she grew a bit surer that this was in fact reality. " Sasuke, please, open your eyes. Wake up."

Very slowly, fearful as to what they'd find, her eyes inched open. Her breath wheezed a bit when she met a familiar pair of blue orbs. " Naruto…"

The blonde grinned brightly, and before she knew it she'd been pulled into a tight, nearly desperate hug. " Damnit, teme! Do you have any idea of badly you scared me? I… I thought…" The boy trailed off.

Closing her eyes again, she pulled the boy closer, allowed the sensation of his warm touch to fill her. " I'm alright, Naruto", she whispered. _And I'm so glad you are, too_, she didn't dare to add although she would've wanted to.

They were silent for quite a long time until Naruto suddenly spoke. " Sasuke… Promise me." Was that a sniff? " Promise me you'll hang on. Don't you dare give up."

Her head was in such a buzz that she had no idea of what he meant, but somehow she couldn't bring herself to care much, either. Her throat felt unbearably scratchy. " I promise."

As soon as she'd said those words, she started to feel cold and heavy.

Naruto's hold on her grew frantic. " Sasuke?" The voice and touch seemed to be fading. " SASUKE!"

* * *

In the meantime, the small group gathered into Naruto and Iruka's house had no idea that upstairs Naruto had been awakened from a vivid dream when Ibiki appeared to the living room, scarred face oddly tense. " I just got a phone-call from the station", the man announced, his voice as tight as his face. " Mizuki's been spotted in a hospital, I just sent five men to go and get him. There's also been an anonymous tip. They know where Sasuke is."

Itachi's eyes flew huge. " So… You got an address?" He barely dared to even hope.

The soft, shock-silenced voice startled them all. " You… know where she is?"

Their heads turned simultaneously, and they found Naruto stood by the room's doorway, his blue eyes widened and both fists clenched hard.

Ibiki swallowed hard. " Look, Naruto…"

Never had anyone of them seen such determination that lit into Naruto's eyes at that moment. " If you know where she is, I'm sure as hell coming along."

Iruka sighed heavily. " Naruto, no. Jiraiya told me precisely to make you stay in bed, avoid stress and relax. Your heart…"

No one was sure if it was Naruto words or the spilling tears that silenced the man. " Do you think I give a damn about my heart right now?!" It was quite obvious that there was no room for voices of reason. " It's my fault that creep managed to take her! I'm not going to sit back and relax until she's safe!"

Ibiki sighed heavily. " Fine, you can come. But if you get in the way, I swear I'll send you as far away from that place as humanly possible."  
He nodded. If it meant he'd get to go after Sasuke, he could handle that much.

Ibiki nodded as well, appearing satisfied with his reaction. " Good." The man then looked at all the people in the room. " Now let's go. I think we've wasted enough of time already."

* * *

Sasuke's eyes opened, and for this one, blissful moment she was fully certain she'd find Naruto's face looking back at her. Her heart was nearly torn to pieces when she met darkness instead.

It was a huge struggle to fight off the tears that would've desperately wanted to come.

_Damnit…_

But at that moment, as though it'd receiving a beam of sunlight, she also got hope. Because as she carefully moved her wrists and ankles, she realized that after all the struggling she'd done, the binds had finally loosened. She was almost free.

" So you're awake." Orochimaru's voice made her want to vomit. " That's good."

As she moved her head, she felt icy shivers when finding the man preparing yet another needle.

Her black eyes narrowed dangerously. " What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Orochimaru gave one of his chilling smiles while tapping the needle and pushing away air bubbles. " Oh, just giving you something that will help you relax. It'll make things a lot more comfortable for us both."

Her heartbeat shot up while sickening images flashed in the back of her head.

Orochimaru's hand roaming through her…

The man thrusting himself into her, no matter how hard she tried to fight back…

Her scream of utter, absolute defeat…

Almost inhuman determination made her eyes gleam.

There was no way in hell she'd let him do that to her again!

By then, Orochimaru was already close, the needle approaching her neck that was still tender from the previous injection. " Don't worry, Sasuke-kun. It'll only sting for a moment – after that, everything will be alright."

She found herself breathing hard and deep while her body prepared for an attack. " You are not coming anywhere near me again, you piece shit", she hissed.

Before Orochimaru could even guess it coming, her leg – pulled free from all binds – flew forward, hitting him straight to kneecap. Sensation of satisfaction flared through her when he groaned silently with pain while falling down, the needle slipping from his grasp.

She sneered. " I almost ended my life because of you, asshole", she hissed. Due to his surprise, Orochimaru wasn't fast enough to dodge the kick she aimed at his head. " I'll make damn sure you'll _never_ lay a hand on me again."

With chilling satisfaction, she watched as Orocohimaru froze for a bit, obviously too dizzy over her sudden attack to be able to move. She didn't hesitate to take her chance. Despite drugs and tearing pain, she was by the room's door in a blink and dashed out without pausing for a beat.

She managed to run for a couple of minutes until she braked all of a sudden, her eyes widening slightly despite herself.

This place, these hallways…

She was in a freaking maze.

Orochimaru's hollow laughter found its way into her ears. " Foolish girl. Did you really think it'd be that easy to escape?" There was a small pause. " The game is just beginning."

But the man's voice or the realization that she was in a labyrinth weren't what'd caused her pause her getaway.

For there, stood directly before her, was a slightly older boy with grey hair on a ponytail and glasses covering his black eyes.

* * *

TBC??

* * *

A/N: (starts retreating slowly) Eh, so… Still now safety, huh? But hey, at least the rescue group's on its way! (tries to smile nervously, then screams and runs from pitchforks)

Please, don't forget to review, yeah? I suppose I don't have to even mention how much hearing from you guys means to my inspiration. (gives HUGE puppy-dog eyes)

Until next time, yeah? Whoever knows, maybe that one will appear after decent wait, unlike these past couple of chapters… (sweatdrops)

Take care!


	8. Go!

A/N: My goodness, it's been long – I'm so sorry! But hey, now I'm FINALLY back (although in such a hurry that I'm ripping hair out of frustration…)!

First things first… HUGE thank yous for those amazing review! (HUGGLES) You can't even begin to imagine how much they mean to me. **Because of me being insanely busy, responses to reviews will be at the end of this chapter, just like good old times. And now that we're on it, let's make a vote. Which way do you guys want your reviews to be responded – e-mail, or at the end of a chapter? Let me know!**

Okay, before you'll start throwing things, let's go! Enjoy, yeah?

WARNING: Due to that bloody lack of time, my proofreading for this chapter SUCKS. Try to bear with me, please?

* * *

CHAPTER 8: Go!

* * *

Sasuke frowned and balled her fists while measuring the grey-haired boy before her, trying to decide if he was worthy of her trust. " Who the hell are you?" she eventually inquired, deciding to take the first step.

The boy's face revealed nothing. " My name is Kabuto. I'm going to guide you out of this building, if you're willing to follow me."  
She arched an eyebrow. " Why should I trust you?"

The grey-haired shrugged. " I'm not saying you should. But you have only two options at the moment. Either you follow me or go back to Orochimaru. Which one do you prefer?"

As much as she hated to admit it, Kabuto did have a point. This was most likely a trap of some sort, but she sure as hell wasn't going back to Orochimaru's hands. " Fine", she all but growled. " Show me the way."

-

Through security cameras, Orochimaru watched the two with an arched eyebrow.

He had to admit that this wasn't the move he'd been expecting from Kabuto. But he was nonetheless curious to see how this would turn out.

His eyes then moved to another camera that showed police cars approaching the building.

Unfortunately, he'd have to take care of other things first.

* * *

In one of the cars approaching the building Naruto, Gaara, Itachi and Sakura were practically fidgeting on their seats, anxious to reach their destination.

" How much longer does this frigging journey take?!" Naruto snarled, one hand involuntarily going to his chest that'd been throbbing like hell for a while. " We've been driving for hours already!"

Ibiki gave him a sympathy-filled look through rear view mirror. " Actually, it's been less than fifteen minutes."

" Naruto." Gaara's gaze was firm, but also held such deep worry that it immediately silenced him. " I know it's hard, but try to relax. Getting worked up doesn't help us any with finding Sasuke."

" Besides…", Ibiki spoke once more in a somewhat tense voice. " We're already here."

Without really noticing it, it seemed, Sakura took Itachi's hand. Green eyes smouldered when darting towards them all. " No stupidities, understood? We'll all get out of that hellhole safely."

Nodding vaguely, Naruto glanced out of the window, towards the chilling building that was approaching fast.

Blue eyes filled with flame.

_I'm coming, Sasuke._

He nearly winced when the pain in his chest intensified.

_Whatever it takes, I'll get you out of that place. That asshole is never going to hurt you again, I'll make sure of it._

* * *

Ino had always been the type to dramatise things. (What else can you expect from a child who's birth started two weeks early in the middle of a huge birthday party, and lasted for the upcoming thirty-five hours?) That's why even she wasn't surprised by to what magnitudes she managed to lift her distress while anxiously waiting for news of Sasuke or Sakura.

She, however, refused to be ashamed by her turmoil. One of her best friends had been kidnapped by some freak and the other was chasing after her with the police, damnit – she was allowed to bounce all over the place!

And it didn't make matters any less complicated or distressing that it seemed like Shikamaru had disappeared from the face of the planet.

She glared at her mercilessly silent cell-phone as though it'd been the reason of all her misery.

Where the hell was her boyfriend when she needed him the most?!

In the end, she decided that she just couldn't take this anymore. She threw her cell-phone against the wall, grabbed her jacket although it was almost painfully hot outside and headed out, slamming the door shut after her.

She had no idea of what she was doing at first when her feet guided her towards a building quite nearby the one where her dorm-room was, and she had absolutely no clue of how she knew the way to the correct door.

She could actually sense Sai's scent in the air as she stood behind the door with one hand lifted, desperately trying to gather her courage for a knock. After having stood there for a full minute she finally figured that she might never find such.

" Are you going in or not?" The male-voice she didn't remember hearing before caught her so badly off guard that she almost yelped. Spinning around, she met a boy with spiked up hair and strange pale eyes. " Because I'd really like to go in." The boy tilted his head ever so slightly with a suspicious frown. " Are you here for Sai?"

She'd never been one to blush easily. That's why she was infuriated when feeling hotness all over her cheeks. " No, I…" Then, composing absolutely all her self-confidence, she lifted her cheek a bit and turned around as though she'd known exactly where to go. " Sorry. Wrong door."

She could feel the boy's questioning gaze on her back.

-

Sai had no idea of for how long he'd been staring off into space, his book completely forgotten, when the door's sound snapped him back to reality. Turning his head, he found his roommate Juugo. " How was football practise?"

Juugo shrugged casually, going through their mail. " Nothing breath stilling." The boy then came to think of something. " Oh yeah, there was some girl behind the door – blonde, pretty. I think she was looking for you."

He frowned. It couldn't possibly be… " Oh", was all he could come up with.

Juugo's arched eyebrow seemed questioning, but instead of asking the boy headed towards kitchen. " I'll make some tea. It looks like you need it."

He couldn't bring himself to reply, instead stared into space once more. By now, he didn't even know he had a book in his hand.

Could it really have been Ino? But… What was she doing coming to see him, after everything that'd been said and done?

Sighing deeply he rubbed his throbbing temple with three fingers.

Suddenly, he wished his stay in Japan would've been much, much shorter than one year.

* * *

Due to the life she'd lead Temari, who was currently watching over the kids in an orphanage, had grown to be quite good at reading people. Therefore it wasn't hard for her to pinpoint that there was something very, very wrong with how silent – heck, brooding – Shikamaru was.

Eventually she had enough.

" Alright, spill it." His unwillingness to meet her gaze only pressed her to speak further. " Either you're suddenly very annoyed with having to spend time with me, or something's happened. So spill before I'll make you."

Shikamaru looked down without saying a word, seeming extremely embarrassed. It took for several moments until his lips finally moved with utter reluctance. " I saw you, with that guy by a cafe." The boy's eyes shifted towards her, for just a fleeing second. " Is he your boyfriend or what?"

At first, she stared at him in utter disbelief for almost a minute, then burst into a loud laughter. " Oh… my… Shikamaru Nara, are you… _jealous_?"

The boy shot a glare towards her, cheeks adorably red. " Shut it."

After thinking about it for a moment, she decided that he deserved some relief. A smile remained on her face. " If he was my boyfriend, it'd definitely be something to be talked about." She went on once receiving a questioning look. " Shikamaru, he was my brother, Gaara." As she looked at him, she felt her chest tighten upon realizing just how close by they were. " It's adorable, though, that you care."

Shikamaru still barely dared to look her way. " Hn."

At that moment, it became just too damn hard to resist the temptation. Her heart racing million miles per hour she leaned closer, and in a matter of moment their lips met, first softly – cautiously – then moving hard, challenging each other. She was barely coherent enough to realize what was happening, and in no state to hear how some kids giggled when seeing them.

Neither knew for how long the strictly forbidden kiss had lasted when Shikamaru suddenly pulled away, eyes wide with what looked surprisingly close to panic.

She gulped thickly, slowly beginning to realize what she'd done. " Oh shit…"  
Only once or twice had she seen a guy move as fast as Shikamaru took his departure, retreating from her as though she'd been a deranged animal. " Oh fuck…", the boy repeated for more times than she could count, pulling his hair with exasperation. " Now I'm officially just as bad as she is." With that as his final statement he spun around and dashed away.

She was left sitting there in daze, still wondering what the hell had just happened.

* * *

To Sasuke's immense surprise Kabuto actually did lead her out of the building, to an alleyway that held such stench she immediately felt like throwing up. Gaze filled with suspicion, she turned to look at the boy. " Now what?"

Kabuto's eyes revealed to her that every single trace of her suspicion had been justified. " Now…" Before she could as much as breathe once, she'd been pinned against a graffiti-filled wall. The boy looked at her as though she'd been the most repulsive thing ever presented to his eyes. " … it's time to make some things very, very clear."

She snarled and struggled, but didn't manage to vigour away. " What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

Her heart almost stilled when Kabuto pulled out a gun, pointing it straight towards her. " Do you have any idea of how much trouble you've brought on Orochimaru?" The boy's eyes reminded her chillingly lot of her father's. " Now, it's time to bring an end to it."  
-

In the meantime, the strange little group entered the building along with what seemed like an army of policemen. Ibiki gave them a stern look. " Now stay with me, alright? Don't try anything stupid – you could end up risking this mission as well as your own lives."  
They nodded speechlessly, like a bunch of five-year-olds getting lectured.

With that, they started to proceed further, much too aware of the fact that the hallways were constantly getting darker. Soon enough, it became impossible to distinguish who was walking more than a metre ahead or if there was no one.

Those facts considered, Sakura didn't really manage to become surprised when she stepped into a tiny hallway that had just a little bit more light and realized that she'd ended up getting lost from the main-group after all. There was only Gaara walking ahead of her, and judging by the boy's tense shoulders he knew they were alone as well.

It took some moments before she dared to speak. " Gaara… Do you have any idea of where the others are?"

The boy shook his head, suddenly stopping to a wall. She watched with utter puzzlement while the boy's fingers tabbed stone, as though testing. Puzzlement turned into stun when a hollow sound came as response, clearly stating that there was empty space behind the wall. Like knowing exactly what he was doing, Gaara pressed his hand to a certain brick. The wall screeched with fury while sliding opened. What they faced made them both freeze.

Right before them, was a rather tiny, poorly lighted room with a bed that had well-made restraints connected to it. All around were different equipment that were most definitely designed for torture – blades, knives, needless… Such a thick layer of blood that it looked like a carpet covered the room's stony floor, and indescribably horrendous stench smacked them right across the face. But those things weren't what caught their attention. For there, locked into a tiny cage, was a boy who couldn't be much older than they, blood and vomit all around him. It seemed the boy had been dead for a while.

Sakura was extremely pleased Gaara was modest (or, perhaps, shocked) enough to not say a word when she sprinted out of the room and threw up loudly.

-

Careful to avoid all possible traps and spotting at least twenty of such, Ibiki lead his troupes through the building, feeling almost chilled by the fact that a part of him knew exactly where he was going. Pulling out his gun, he threw open a huge door ahead of him.

Orochimaru's head turned when the man heard the door. Despite all the emotions that must've been rushing through, the man's face remained chillingly blank. " Well hello. I must confess I'm impressed you made it here."  
He lifted his weapon, aiming directly towards the man's forehead, while three of his men rushed over to arrest the freak. With sideways glance, he noticed two packed up suitcases ready to go. " You're not going anywhere, you piece of shit", he snarled. He'd failed to keep Mizuki from escaping. He wasn't about to repeat his mistake.

The man shrugged, snake's eyes moving to side. " Neither is she." Looking towards the direction, he found a tiny screen of security camera and felt his insides turn cold. There, Sasuke was held at gunpoint by a boy he'd never seen before. " I'm afraid you came too late."

" Hey, Ibiki", one of his men called out. He turned to meet frown-marred face. " Where are all those brats you brought along?"

-

The gun pointing at her, Sasuke went through her options, heart pounding as though about to explode.

She was pretty fast, but she was certain Kabuto was as well. There was no way she'd be able to make her escape before the bullet would reach her. But, if that was her only chance…

Faster than she'd ever moved she hauled her leg forth, managing to tackle the boy. Not wasting beat she was moving, running for dear. But, as she'd expected, she wasn't quite fast enough with Orochimaru's medication, horrendous pain all over her body and suddenly appeared utter exhaustion weighing her.

She growled when merciless force grabbed her hair, and soon enough found herself hauled to the pavement. She winced when deep cuts and scrapes appeared to her hands and knees, as well as to her cheek when it met stone.

She felt hard metal against the back of her head. " Get up. I want you to look at me in the eyes." Doing as she was told with utter reluctance, she met a pair of flaming orbs. " I have no clue of how the police made it here, but I'll make sure you won't be able to cause any further damage."

All of a sudden, running steps were heard, and in a moment she heard a voice she'd thought she'd never hear again. " Sasuke?"

Turning her gaze slowly, she felt everything inside her still when facing Naruto and Itachi.

_No…!_

Her eyes grew huge.

_Get the hell out of here, you idiots! Don't you dare…!_

Kabuto sneered, cutting her trail of thought. " Well, this makes things all the more interesting. Your little friends are here to witness me finishing you off."

Naruto's eyes were also widened to ridiculous extend when the boy realized. " SASUKE!"

In a blink, gunshot echoed throughout the alley.

* * *

Since the first session, Kimimaro had found his psychiatrist's, Tsunami's, office extremely calming. He wasn't entirely sure of what made the place that way – after all, there was nothing special, barely any decorations. Quite possibly it was the woman.

" Kimimaro." Feeling ashamed by his slip of focus, he turned his gaze towards the voice and met Tsunami's soft eyes. The woman's head was slightly tilted. " I can't help noticing… You talk quite willingly about your parents and all the loneliness you've been through, but you shut me out every time Orochimaru's name is mentioned. Why is that?"

He looked down towards his shoes, barely managing to restrain himself from wincing when images flashed by his mind like some sickening movie. " I… He's done so much for me. I don't want to talk bad things about him, and that's what you're expecting me to do."

A lump he hadn't expected rose into his throat when he met Tsunami's eyes once more – sad and sympathetic, not angry or accusing. " He locked you into a dark room", she pointed out.

The lump nearly kept him from speaking out. " He… He did it to protect me."  
Tsunami's eyes became so soft that it shattered absolutely all his restraints and boundaries. " Kimimaro, he was _not_ taking care of you. What he put you through… It was wrong, something no child should have to endure." Her sad smile made him feel like he'd been cracking apart piece by piece. " You're an amazing boy with tons of sympathy, Kimimaro. You deserve better, you do understand that, right? You can have it so much better."

That day, he cried for the first time in his life.

-

Although he would've never said it out loud, Kimimaro was glad to have someone waiting for him when he got out Tsunami's office and found Hinata sitting in a chair nearby, quite nervously fiddling through a magazine.

Gratitude could be spotted upon the girl's face when she spotted him. " W-Well, I suppose w-we should go h-home."  
He nodded, relief by the fact that there were no questions or comments. He didn't think he would've been up to them at the moment. He managed to smile faintly while nodding, the storm inside momentarily forgotten.

Not a word needed to be spoken while they walked out, barely noticing that they were holding hands like some couple.

* * *

Sasuke didn't dare to open up her eyes. Although she felt no pain, she could tell something was wrong. Eventually, however, she managed to brace herself, and emitted a tiny gasp at what she saw, her dark eyes flying wide.

Straight before her was stood Itachi, who was holding his bleeding shoulder with a scowl of intense pain. It was obvious where the bullet that'd been meant for her had gone.

Itachi, apparently sensing her stare, lifted his gaze and tried to smile faintly despite pain. " Sasuke, it's alright. It's not as bad as it looks."  
At that point, shouts of policemen were heard, and Kabuto took two steps back before spinning around and starting to dash away, obviously deciding that he wasn't about to get caught. Neither she nor Itachi had what it would've taken to run and try to catch to guy.

All of a sudden, so out of blue that her body nearly convulsed of startle, a pair of arms wrapped tightly around her shuddering frame. Despite state of shock she was slowly becoming aware of, it took her only a couple of moments to realize that it was Naruto holding her. She was pretty sure the boy was sobbing. " Stupid teme… Do you have any idea of how worried I was?"

Speechless, she returned his hold, too much in a shock to be able to do anything else. Neither of them noticed how policemen started to crowd around them.

After several minutes, she felt that something was deeply wrong. Frowning, she looked towards Naruto's face that seemed ashen. " Dobe?" The boy didn't respond. Worry squeezed her chest with painful force. " Naruto, what's going on?" _Answer me, damnit, please…_

In nothing more than a blink, the blonde's eyes fell closed and he fell completely limp.

" NARUTO!"

* * *

After having stayed up for almost two days straight, Neji was just about ready to collapse out of exhaustion when he entered the room he'd thought he'd never see again. But despite all fatigue, he just had to smile at what he saw.

Sitting in a chair that seemed ridiculously huge for her, TenTen had fallen asleep, also fast asleep tiny Aki pressed securely against her chest in a carrying bag.

The girl – who'd most likely just fallen into a slumber – snapped her eyes open when sensing presence, and seemed ready to run until her bleary eyes recognized him. " Neji?" Her voice was filled with such an amount of hope and fear that it almost broke his heart. She swallowed and gathered herself for several moments before speaking. " Why aren't you home?"

He looked towards the girl, then to the baby – his son – in her arms. " This was more important." He gazed towards the girl once more, and gulped before managing to speak. " Ten… How is this possible?"

The girl sighed heavily and bit her lip hard before speaking out. " There was that birthday party, when someone spiked up the punch. We got a little crazy back then. About a month later, I noticed that something was wrong." It nearly broke his heart when the girl sniffed. " I had to tell my father. He made me hide this at all costs – to protect my reputation. He practically locked me in before Aki was born."

Shock struck him speechless for a long time, during which he stared at the baby he now knew to be his very own son. And that moment, he knew exactly what to do.

" You don't have to go back home, not ever again", he announced. He went on when the stunned girl looked at him with wide eyes. " There's a spare room in my house. When I tell mom about this… I'm sure she'll know it's the right thing to do as well."

-

TenTen couldn't believe what she was hearing.

After everything she'd said and done… Neji was willing to do something like this for her?

Her throat was so tight that she could barely speak. " I… It's a huge thing, Neji. I need to think. We both do." She didn't want him to end up making the biggest mistake in his entire life.

Fortunately (or so she thought), before she was forced to do even more thinking something caught her attention. She frowned when hearing Sakura's voice from the hallway, filled with distress.

Neji, seeming to understand, spoke. " You should go. I can look after Aki in the meantime."

Despite everything, she just had to smile. " Thank you." Gosh, she didn't deserve someone like him around!

With that thought, she dashed out of the room.

* * *

Sasuke's head was spinning madly while she sprinted through the hospital's doors, following closely on the tails of Itachi, who was clutching to his bleeding shoulder with a scowl, and the medics carting still unconscious Naruto.

The first person crossing their path was Jiraiya. It didn't take a genius to see how worried the man was when examining Naruto's face while dashing forth. " What happened?"

She swallowed, unable to come up with words. Suddenly speaking felt like the hardest thing in the entire world. " He… He collapsed… I…" She was pretty sure terror was apparent in her eyes when they met the man's, but at the moment she refused to care. _Please, make him wake up, please. Don't let him die._

As though reading her mind, the man smiled faintly. " Everything's going to be alright. I'll do whatever I can for him, I promise."

" Sasuke." Turning around with startle, she faced Kakashi, who had a somewhat sad expression upon his face. " You've been through quite a bit. Let's go and get you checked up, alright?"

Had she been even an inch more coherent, she would've kicked and screamed, fought with all she could. (She wanted to go with Naruto, damnit!) But at the moment, she didn't have the strength for anything such.

The next thing she properly realized was that she was laying in a hospital bed, with Kakashi stood by the bedside, making notes.

The man managed to smile a bit when noticing her awake. " Well morning. You've been out cold for some hours."

Her head buzzing she nodded, desperately trying to get some sense into things.

Naruto, Itachi… Where the hell were they? Were they alright?

Before she could ever ask, however, there was a knock on the room's door. Sakura entered with an odd look upon her face. " Sasuke… I'm sorry, but… They wanted to see you, to make sure you're okay."

She never got the chance to even wonder what she meant before Ino, TenTen and Hinata entered as well. For some odd reason all three seemed rattled.

As usual, it was Ino who spoke. " Sasuke… What's going on? Because… This is cancer ward. And don't you dare say everything's alright, because we won't believe you."

* * *

Despite the tears she'd already spilled, TenTen could barely keep her emotions in check when she entered the hospital room of her son, her legs shaking so badly that she could barely stand.

It was extremely fortunate that the sight she faced managed to save at least a smallest piece of her sanity, bring some clarity into the chaos of her mind.

There, sitting in the very same chair she had some hours earlier, Neji was holding Aki with arms that seemed stunningly experienced, feeding the tiny one with a bottle.

Hearing her enter, the boy looked at her and frowned when seeing traces of tears on her face. " Ten? What's wrong?"

She simply shook her head, hoping that it'd be enough to tell Neji that she was far from ready to talk about it.

With obvious reluctance, the boy kept his quiet.

After what felt like ages, she found herself speaking. " Thank you."

Seeming confused, Neji looked at her again. " For what?"

She sniffed despite resistance. " For being here."

The boy still seemed confused, but didn't ask.

From thereon, comfortable silence filled the room.

* * *

Evening was growing pretty late when Hinata finally managed to stumble home, pretty sure that stains of all cried tears could be clearly seen from her face. She was glad to discover that her parents were still at their friends and Hanabi was preoccupied by TV. Interrogation would've been the last thing she needed.

Sasuke had…

In a matter of months, one of the five of them…

Paying barely any mind to her footsteps, she only woke up from her thoughts when bumping against something soft and warm. Lifting her head, she gulped when finding Kimimaro, who was looking at her with a frown. " Hinata? What's wrong?"

She'd always been one of the most sensitive end. Therefore, especially with her current state of mind, those words were all it took. Giving only one sharp breath as a warning she buried her face into one hand and started to sob uncontrollably. She shuddered at first when feeling a pair of warm, clumsy arms wrap cautiously around her shuddering form, but in the end relaxed to the touch that felt disturbingly familiar.

She must've been crying for several minutes until she finally became aware of the hand brushing her hair and the words whispered to her ear. " It'll be alright, Hinata, I promise you." Gently and slowly, the boy pushed her just a little bit further so that he could meet her eyes. " Everything's going to work out."

At that very moment, those green eyes and state of shock wiping away absolutely all her reason and usual fears, she did something so un-Hinata-like that it absolutely terrified her.

She rose to the very tips of her toes and pressed her lips gently to Kimimaro's, tears still running down her cheeks.

* * *

Unlike some of her friends, Ino had never been one to drink a lot. But that day, she figured that she had a pretty good reason to drown herself into a bottle. Her roommate and best friend Sakura or Shikamaru weren't there to stop or protect her when she managed to find an impressive stash of bottles and took several of them.

In only an hour, she'd already lost track on just how many empty bottles she'd thrown against the wall with tears streaming down her cheeks. It was then her far from coherent mind realized that she just couldn't go on like this.

She had no idea of how she managed to walk, let alone found the correct path, but eventually she was stood by Sai's dorm-room once again. She didn't manage to stop herself before she'd already knocked.

To say the least, the boy looked stunned when finding her there. " Ino?"

If it was because of alcohol, his presence or all the emotions surging she didn't know, but at that moment she couldn't speak out another word. Instead she burst into tears and wrapped her arms around Sai, burying her face into his chest.

From thereon, she remembered nothing.

-

Sai had absolutely no idea of what to do when the sobbing girl suddenly became completely limp, obviously passing out. In the end, with a lot of hesitation, he scooped her into his arms and laid her gently to his bed.

He gave a deep sigh when watching her tear-stained face.

All hell would break loose when she'd wake up.

* * *

Kakashi's shift seemed to take for eternity that day, and by the time he got home he was so exhausted the he feared he'd simply collapse.

All fatigue, however, faded by what he found from a bench right outside the hospital. He blinked for a few times in disbelief before speaking. " Iruka?"

There, his former best friend had pressed his back as tightly against the backboard of the bench as he could, some tears still rolling and whole body shuddering from cold. The bottle he saw in the brunette's hand as well as the horrendous smell told him that the man was far from a rational state.

Very slowly, brown eyes rose to meet his, and immediately filled with intense wrath. " Shtay away", slurring voice commanded.

Swallowing down a sigh as well as a stab of pain, he walked up and hauled the man up. As much as Iruka hated him, the man nonetheless leaned against him as it was the only way to remain standing. " I'm taking you home before you'll freeze to death", he announced. " Once you've sobered up, we'll talk."

Iruka glared at him. " Don't whant tho."

He refused to become affected, no matter how hard the words bit. " We've been avoiding each other for far too long – you know it as well as I do."

Iruka responded with throwing up gloriously.

He sighed heavily, gaze rising towards the stars shining above him.

Somehow, he had a feeling that the next twenty-four hours wouldn't be pleasant.

* * *

As a police officer, Mizuki wasn't the type to be unnerved easily. And, as dark path as he'd chosen, he had sharp instinct as well. That's why he _knew_ that things would become _very_ unpleasant soon enough when he noticed a girl with absolutely strangest hairdo he'd ever seen, sitting on a long bench nearby, waiting.

It was very late, and he was in such a part of the town that had a lot of warning signs on it back in the station. But he was on the run and he had absolutely no place to go. Desperate times require desperate measures. " Karin?"

Following his sound lazily, the girl's dark eyes turned towards him, evaluating him through glasses. " Well hello there." There was something strange in her tone that didn't quite fit into her casual posture, but he couldn't name it.

He stopped about two steps away from the girl, unable to keep himself from scanning through her lightly dressed form, and found his gaze locking to a hummingbird-tattoo on her shoulder that seemed oddly familiar. He waited for a few seconds before speaking. " I assume Orochimaru sent you to deliver me some documents."

" Yup." Karin fished out something that looked like a passport along with some other documents. " With these, you should have no trouble with leaving Japan behind."

" Thank you." Greedily and unquestioningly he accepted the offerings, eyes scanning the girl hungrily again. (He was a man, damnit, he explained to himself. He had needs.) " I assume you don't offer other… services?"

For just a moment, he was almost sure the girl would just jump up and kill him. But then, something else, almost like amusement, appeared into those eyes that rose to meet his. The girl kept her silence for a while. " So you really don't remember?"

He frowned. What was there supposed to be to remember? He'd never even…

Karin shrugged and tried to maintain her cool, but he could see that there was a storm of fire blazing inside her. " I guess I shouldn't be surprised", she all but spat out. " Little girls grow up a lot in eight years." With those words, she looked at him directly into eyes.

And at that moment his own eyes widened as he remembered.

Remembered tears…

Remembered Orochimaru showing him this girl – his reward for agreeing to help the man…

A little girl begging him to stop…

Remembered that hummingbird-tattoo…

He emitted a loud gasp when a deadly sharp blade that had uneven edged flew through the air, slicing hungrily at his throat. He couldn't do as much as lift his hand to stop the bleeding when something warm and soft started to flow out.

Karin's eyes, blazing with repulsion and something close to satisfaction, were the last thing his wide, glazing over eyes ever saw. " You've been in my nightmares for eight years now." The girl's voice was chillingly calm, as though she'd reached every single one of her goals in life. " Maybe now, I'll be in yours."

World faded from him.

-

Karin shivered while watching the white-haired man slump into blood-caked snow and balled her gloved fists. To her surprise, she didn't feel repulsion. Instead she grinned, feeling like ton's weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

It'd finally been done. She'd given the police a tip as to where to find that poor girl – Sasuke, wasn't it? – and Mizuki had been… taken care of. She had no further reason to stay in Japan.

She didn't even turn her gaze to see who it was when hearing steps. " We should go", boy's voice pointed out. " Cops will appear any minute now."

She nodded, then and only then ripping her gaze from the corpse (finally convinced the man was dead) to see Suigetsu. " Yeah. We should leave." She thought for a moment. " How does Barcelona sound to you?"

Suigetsu smirked. " Like heaven. I hate coldness."

-

A couple of hours later, Ibiki lead the group that found Mizuki's body. It was never discovered who killed the man.

* * *

It was quite late that night when both teens' visitors left and Sasuke dared to slip into Naruto's hospital room. His heart immediately wrenched and he regretted his decision of coming when he saw all the machines hooked to the boy, realized just how frail and vulnerable, unnaturally still, the usually hyper blonde was.

Her throat feeling oddly choked, she slumped to a chair that'd been placed by the boy's bedside. " You idiot…", she managed in what was barely even a whisper. Her eyes were on fire, but thankfully tears didn't spill. She didn't think she could've handled them at the moment. " Why the hell did you do something that reckless and stupid for me when you were already in pain? Why… Why did you risk so much?"

She was nearly startled when Naruto's eyes inched slowly halfway open, revealing a pair of hazy blue orbs, and the blonde grinned dazedly. " Isn't that obvious, teme?" The boy's hand moved, but didn't have the strength to actually reach out and touch. " I love you."  
Those small words, which Naruto probably wouldn't even remember saying once the drugs faded from his system, struck her absolutely speechless, even breath itself seemed to still into her throat. Her widened eyes stared straight into the boy's, searching for any signs of lie or uncertainty whatsoever. She found none. " Naruto…"

Very slowly, those blue eyes slipped closed. " Now shut up, teme", the blonde commanded, already slurring. " I'm tired. Let me sleep." In a matter of seconds the blonde had drifted out of consciousness.

It was then, when she stared at the sleeping boy, did she start to realize how little time there was left – for both of them.

_Damnit, Naruto!_

She was alone. No one would have to know. Therefore, she decided that it was safe to break down a little.

Her body already shuddering, she lifted a hand and brought it to her face, burying her face into it. She didn't think she'd ever be able to stop the soundless tears of frustration, grief and fury when they started to drop out one by one.

* * *

' _No blade cuts sharper than love.'_

* * *

TBC??

* * *

A/N: (sniffs)

I REALLY have to get going now. But first… Please, leave a note – I'd really like to hear your thoughts! (gives absolutely irresistible, huge eyes)

'Til next time! 'Hope I'll see all of you then!

Take care!

**Five chapters to go.** (I think…)

* * *

**DeathRow609**: Intense, hmm? (grins from ear to ear)

I'm so glad you liked the lil' 'love square' –thing. (jumps up and down) It's become one of my favourite romantic plots in this story. (smirks)

Huge thank yous for the review – I'm beyond happy to hear you liked the chapter! C ya, yeah?

-

**DarkMiko13**: Don't let Orochimaru get Sasuke, hmm? (smirks evilly) We'll see, we'll see…

Gigantic thank yous for the review – I'm so glad you've liked the story so far! (makes a lil' embarrassing dance of joy) 'Hope you'll stay tuned!

-

**realityfling18**: (sniffs) Everyone's been having a long, crappy day in this ficcy indeed! (huggles the whole crew, ignoring all violent protests)

Heh, we'll see how that whole 'responses to reviews' –thing works out after the vote. Personally, I love responding at the end of the chapter – I feel it's more honest and easy that way. (smirks) So in short, it'd be my pleasure to fulfil your request.

Massive thank yous for the review – goodness, how proud I am to hear this lil' story's one of your favourites! (nearly bursts with joy) I really hope you'll like what's to come.

-

**StreetRacerSakura**: (hisses at Orochimaru) Now there's a bastard for you indeed! I seriously don't know what punishment would be harsh enough for such a freak.

(Goodness, I really hope you didn't end up screaming your head off!) (LOL)

Colossal thank yous for the review – I'm thrilled to hear you liked the chapter! See ya around, un?

-

**Moriko-Demon**: Could you possibly lend me some of those pitchforks, if you've found more? Because I don't know for how much longer I'll be able to keep myself from attacking that snake freak, and I'll need some weapons when I do. (snarls at the snake freak) (Damn, giving him some of what he gave to Sasuke sounds like a tempting idea!)

(And oh yes, I'm still relieved to hear those were meant for Orochimaru.) (snickers)

Awww, Sasuke and Naruto are such cuties! (dodges multiple attacks from extremely infuriated Sasuke) Those two are totally my favourite anime pairing ever! (gets stars into eyes – from getting whacked by Sasuke)

Massive thank yous for the incredible review – I'm absolutely overjoyed to hear you liked the chapter, let alone that I've actually made it to your favourite authors list! (jumps up and down) I really hope I'll be seeing you around!

-

**Kai's kitty**: Top10 ways to torture Orochimaru? Let's make it top100! (smirks sadistically)

WOO-HOO – go Naruto and Itachi indeed! Save Sasuke and make sure that Snake-bastard pays dearly!

Huge thank yous for the review! 'Til next time, un?

-

**Chibi-Chaaan**: (sighs with misery) Too good to be true indeed. Why does it sound just like Orochimaru-bastard to make labyrinths…?

Massive thank yous for the review! Stay tuned, yeah?

-

**shirilyle**: I really hope the others will find Sasuke, and poor Neji will be alright now that he FINALLY knows the truth! (huggles those both despite furious resistance)

Huge thank yous for the review! C ya around, yeah?

-

**xHinata Uchihax**: (smirks) Well, in that case it's my utmost pleasure to write more! (bows humbly)

Thank you so much for the review! I really hope you'll be staying tuned.

-

**Zetsu's rose**: Exciting AND chilling? WOO-HOO! (dances with joy)

Colossal thank yous for the review – I'm beyond happy to hear you liked the chapter! 'Hope I'll be seeing you around.

-

**Belladonna-Isabella**: My goodness – you've made the exact same observation as I! I've also been gritting my teeth for the plot allowing me to make Naruto more sick – after all, he indeed should be after all the years he's been ill. (Same goes for Sasuke, of course.) (cringes) But, not to worry – from now on, to plotline will FINALLY give me a chance to explore that side. (dances with joy)

(And my goodness, you also had the same idea about Naruto! Talking about two minds thinking alike, huh?)

I'm absolutely thrilled to hear you liked those parts of Mizuki (damn, it felt good to have him betrayed!) and Ino plus Shikamaru!

Immense thank yous for the review – 'so glad to hear you liked the chapter! 'Til next time, yeah?

-

**Kasumi az**: LOVED it?! WOAH!

Huge thank yous for the review – you can't even imagine how glad I am to hear you liked the chapter, let alone that much! Stay tuned, yeah?

-

**Kuyeng13**: (chuckles) I suppose I'm still a bit insecure when it comes to sharing my written work (even though I've been a member on this site for years), hence the never ending question marks. (rolls eyes) But no worries, so long as there are no reviewers demanding me to stop writing this I shall have inspiration to go on. As to having time… Oh well, I'll try to snatch that from somewhere. (smirks)

Enormous thank yous for the review – gosh, how happy I am to hear you've liked the story so far, although it's heartbreakingly sad! Stay tuned, yeah?


	9. Leaps Of Faith

A/N: Hooray – finally a relatively timely update! (dances around)

Before letting you get on with the story… HUGE thank yous for all those incredible reviews – my goodness, it seems you liked the previous chapter (which, btw, was FINALLY cliffie-free)! (HUGGIEES!) And also thank yous to all those amazing people who've listed this story!

Okay, before you'll start gritting teeth, let's go! Enjoy, yeah?

WARNING: Kankuro's girl is finally revealed in this chapter. I really hope you guys won't mind mild gender bending… (winks)

Oh yes, and another WARNING: Due to my, apparently, never ending lack of time, my proofreading for this chapter sucks, AGAIN. (This is appearing way too often, damnit! But it's either this or making you wait several days more, so…) Try to bear with me, please?

* * *

CHAPTER 9: Leaps Of Faith

* * *

Weeks scrolled by faster than anyone could keep track on, and in just a blink it was Valentine's Day.

Sasuke, who was currently struggling with all her might to get her stomach into control, was unable to find anything even remotely romantic or cute about the day, especially with what she'd soon have to do.

" Sasuke?" The worry in Itachi's voice forced her to flinch. If only there would've been able to take away the shadows and weight she'd brought on him… " Are you sure you're up to this? I can still call Shikaku and tell him you're not well enough to testify."

Goodness, how tempting it was to agree to Itachi's plan. During the past weeks – even with the bonarial transplant that'd been made in hopes of granting her some extra time – her condition had deteriorated dramatically, far more than she'd allowed Itachi to see, and she'd been mostly confided to hospital. Plus, this day seemed to be even harder than average. But still… She had to do what was right, especially since this could be the last good thing she'd be able to do.

" I'm fine", she managed through slightly gritted teeth, forcing her throbbing and infuriatingly weak body into straightening and turning towards Itachi. " I'll just get changed and I'm ready to go."

Itachi seemed doubtful but nodded anyhow, knowing that starting to argue would've done no good to either one of them. " Alright, then."

While Itachi started out their now usual morning routine of reading day's newspaper to her aloud, she observed him as subtly as possibly could, and felt her chest squeeze into a tiny ball upon seeing all the signs in him she considered as her doing. Huge dark bags underneath formally lively eyes, paleness of skin, lines of worry all over his face, subconscious rubbing on the shoulder that was still throbbing from Kabuto's bullet… Lately, she'd found it even more terrifying to see the changes in her brother than in herself. It was horrifying that Itachi seemed to be fading even faster than she. And it wasn't only physical. Since she spent almost all her time in a hospital and – as much as she detested it – needed more help with each passing day, Itachi was growing further and further bind to her. A couple of days earlier – when he'd thought she was asleep – Itachi had talked to Sakura, and revealed that he'd paused his studies for now. That, surprisingly enough, hurt her more than anything else.

Forcing her thoughts elsewhere, she picked a pile of clothes – skirt that had once upon a time been rather tight by its fit but now hung loosely, and a neat shirt that'd hopefully hide just how frail her body had become. She didn't want everyone in the courtroom to feel even more sorry for her than necessary.

There was a sound of paper being put down. " Sasuke… Are you sure you're alright with this?"

For a moment she thought about saying 'yes', but in the end didn't see any point in an outrageous lie. She gave a lopsided smile. " I don't really have a choice, do I?"

Itachi eyes were warm as the boy smiled sadly. " Just remember that you're not alone up there."

Despite everything, a tiny smile rose to her face. " I know", she stated in a voice that was slightly softer than her usual.

She had a feeling that Itachi was about to say something more, but her brother became cut off by a soft, nearly hesitant knock on the room's door. In a couple of seconds Naruto's head peered in. " I… hope I'm not interrupting or anything."

Itachi shook his head with a small, tired smile. " Of course not." The boy's eyes moved towards her. " I'll get a cup of coffee and then come to get you, okay?"

She nodded, not sure what else there would've been to say or do.

As soon as Itachi had left, Naruto slumped into the chair that'd been placed beside her bed. Despite the usual cheerful expression, the blonde didn't manage to fool her with how his breath wheezed and how bluish his lips were. " Gaara just called from Tokyo and told me to wish you all his best. I don't think he's still quite forgiven himself for not being able to show up today."

She nodded, feeling a comfortable touch of warmth.

Naruto took a long moment to observe her. " So, teme… Ready to go?"

She made an 'hn' like sound while allowing her legs to give way, making her fall quite heavily to the side of her bed. It felt like she'd ran several marathons at one go. " As ready as I'll ever become." She then frowned upon discovering that Naruto was also – for a first time in what felt like weeks – wearing regular clothes. " Now where do you think you're going?"

The boy gave her one of his wide grins. " Going with you, of course. What – did you think I wouldn't be there when you face that freak?" Seeing her expression, the boy scoffed. " Oh come on, teme. It's only sitting down. I'm pretty sure it won't wear me down all that much."

About a month ago, she would've probably put up a fight. But now, she settled with an almost sighed response. There was no point in exhausting them both with pointless bickering " Thanks." Truth to be told, she really wanted him there.

Naruto held his silence for uncharacteristically long time, to allow her some time with her thoughts or out of exhaustion was impossible to tell. In the end there were words close to a whisper. " You're pretty nervous, huh?"

She made a somewhat hoarse laughter, and had she felt up to it would've made a sarcastic remark but now satisfied with " Hn".

Naruto swallowed loudly, twisting his hands nervously in his lap. " I… wish there was something I could do. To make you feel better, I mean."

Her mouth opened, but the words that came out weren't the ones she'd first intended. " There… is one thing. You could try being honest with me about something", she spoke, her tone yet again so soft it nearly made her wince. Naruto's eyes were filled with confusion when she braced herself to meet them. It took long gathering of courage before she managed to speak more. " Back when you… saved me… I'm not sure if you remember, but… you said something." Noticing how wide and startled Naruto's eyes became, she knew for sure that he actually _did_ remember. " Did you mean it?"

Naruto simply stared at her for several moments, the look upon his face stating that had he been in the condition it would've required, he would've run fast and far. But as it was now, the boy could only swallow hard before speaking in a weak, hoarse tone. " If I did… Would it be such a bad thing? Would it be against some law?"

_Yeah_, all her reason screamed out inside her head. _It's the absolutely worst thing that could possibly happen – for both of us._ But then again, she'd never been too good at following reason, and therefore found her hands grabbing Naruto's. She couldn't help noticing that boy's skin was just a little bit colder than the day before. " No", she murmured, purposely avoiding meeting Naruto's blue eyes in fear of what they'd make her do. " I… suppose it wouldn't."

Neither knew what would've been said and done, if it wasn't for Itachi re-entering the room just then, Sakura on his tails. While Sakura could clearly barely stifle a laughter, a weird look flashed in her brother's eyes when he saw the way they were sitting. Fortunately he didn't ask a thing. " It's time."

* * *

As Ino's blue eyes glanced towards the rather large clock hanging on a café's wall, she made two observations that made her grit teeth.

Orochimaru's trial – to which Sasuke hadn't allowed to she and her other friends apart from Sakura to attend – had started an hour ago, so now all she could do was wait and worry again. Secondly, Shikamaru was twenty minutes late from their date.

While waiting, she glanced through a window and discovered that snow had started to fall, and wind blew about ten times harder than when she'd entered.

_Nice_, she mused somewhat bitterly. _There's a snowstorm coming._

" Miss?" Turning her head, she saw an extremely young, brown haired waitress – Matsuri, her nametag said. " Would you like to have some more coffee?"

She thought for a moment, her eyes moving subconsciously to the clock once more and noting that Shikamaru was now twenty-five minutes late. " No, thank you", she stated in an odd voice. " I think I've had enough already."

Matsuri nodded slowly, then turned and left.

Only about half a minute later, a bell that'd been placed above the café's door jingled as Shikamaru entered. There was an apologetic look upon the boy's face while he took a seat. " Sorry, I was studying for an exam and lost track of time."

She sighed heavily and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she finally felt ready to say what should've been spoken out for a long time ago. " Shikamaru…" That was already a warning sign – she _never_ used his full name, hadn't even when they'd been just friends. " I love you, I really do. But… I can't keep doing _this_ anymore."

Shikamaru frowned, looking at her as though she'd just gained an extra limb. " Doing what?"

" You've been avoiding me for over a month, and to be fully honest… I've been avoiding you as well." Her voice almost cracked, but miraculously enough she managed to hold herself together while looking at him straight into eyes. " This morning, I actually felt sick to my stomach when realizing that I'd go out on a date with you. That's not how it's supposed to feel." She chewed her lip. " We've gotta stop hanging on to this before it drives us crazy."

Shikamaru was silent for so long that for this one, ridiculous moment she wondered if time had stopped. But then came such a hoarse whisper she could barely hear. " I…" The boy fell silent for a little while longer, as though changing his mind as to what he'd been about to say. " … think you're right."

Yes, she'd been expecting such a response, and since she knew this was the right thing to do she didn't feel remorse. But still, for some odd reason, it felt like a slap right across her face that he didn't even attempt to fight back, searched no backdoors.

It appeared they were both equally sick and tired of this.

In the end, it was Shikamaru who made the first move. She heard him move, then this strange sound she couldn't recognize at the moment and finally distancing steps. The bell by the café's door sounded again when the boy emerged.

After several moments she finally lifted her gaze. Unlike she'd expected, tears gathered when she saw what he'd left to the table – a gift the boy had given her every single Valentine.

A tiny origami.

She picked it up and flipped it around, then hummed tearily. At least something was different.

Instead of the usual '_I love you_', this bird said '_I'm sorry_'.

It seemed to her that everyone in the café stared at her with pity when she broke down into uncontrollable tears.

* * *

Since the kiss she was still extremely embarrassed by, Hinata hadn't known exactly how to approach Kimimaro, and the boy most certainly hadn't been any less awkward. This had lead into her parents and Hanabi become suspicious. What had happened to the teens that had seemed inseparable? She was almost sure her father suspected something, and was beyond grateful Kimimaro'd had enough of modesty to not spill a thing.

That day, however, fate seemed to be in the mood to throw a yet another twist their way.

Hinata was deep in thought while walking down the stairs, wondering if Orochimaru's trial had already started and if she should've been there for Sasuke's support like Ino had insisted. That's why the voices – another one of which she couldn't recognize – caught her off guard. " … valuable, Kimimaro. What happened to you… It could just be the last nail to the box. You could have him sentenced for life."

She heard a choked sound, almost like someone had been gasping for air. " I… I'm sorry, but I can't. I'm just…" There was a pause, during which a set of odd sounds came. " I can't face him, it's… I can't. Not yet."

There was a heavy sigh. " I'm afraid I can't leave you another choice, Kimimaro." Although she wasn't nowhere enough near to see, she could just feel how demanding eyes were darted towards the teen who'd already been through a living hell. " This is something you must do, Kimimaro. The jury needs to hear your story." There was a sound of someone getting up and starting to walk away. " When you've decided to do the right thing, call me." After about half a minute, the house's door was opened and closed.

After having stood frozen by shock for a long time, she managed to make her way into the room where Kimimaro was standing beside the couch, balled fists trembling, face deadly pale and whole frame unnaturally stiff.

Her eyes grew a fragment when it started to hit her. " Are… Are t-they really going t-to make you t-testify against O-Orochimaru?" Those people… How could they?! Could they really do something like that, when they knew…?!

The boy – apparently unable to react in any other way – nodded, wide, glazed eyes not looking her way.

No matter how little time she'd known Kimimaro and how difficult the boy was to read, she could distinguish every single trace of emotion from his face – grief, panic, even anger she hadn't thought him capable of feeling.

This was far too much for him, she could tell. And much too soon. This would tear open every single scar.

Feeling pain underneath her own ribcage, she swallowed, then spoke, realizing that she'd have to do or say something – _anything_. " I-It's going t-to be a-alright", she whispered, finding her hand clasping around the boy's with a reassuring squeeze. " Everything's g-going to work o-out, I promise."

Apparently speechless, the boy stared at her almost questioningly for a moment, then cracked into thinnest of smiles that absolutely melted her heart. His hand gave hers hand a tiny, tender squeeze. ' _Thank you._'

Despite violent blush, a smile made its way to her cheeks as well.

_Everything's going to be just fine._

-

What the two of them couldn't possibly know was that they'd been observed.

Something so dark and cold it would've chilled anyone's bones flashed in Hiashi Hyuuga's eyes while he watched the boy and his older daughter. After having witnessed the sight for a minute, he made his way soundlessly into his office.

Once the door was safely close, he picked up his phone and dialled numbers. " It's me, Hiashi. I need a favour." It was silent for a little while. " There's someone in my house I want removed, and I also want my daughter as far away from Konoha as possible. Can you arrange that?"

* * *

In all honesty, Sasuke would've never expected there to be that many people in the courtroom. If she had, there was a good chance she would've never showed up. But at that moment… She didn't really have any other choice but to grit teeth and endure.

" Hey, Sasuke." Naruto's near-whisper caused her to glance over her shoulder, although it nearly resulted into her knocking herself down. The blonde's grin, however, paid back all her trouble. " Don't look so nervous. Everything's gonna be just fine, believe it."

Perhaps it meant she was a fool, but… Suddenly, it wasn't impossibly hard to believe him. She didn't smile, couldn't have with what was twirling inside her, but felt her eyes calm down. " Thanks."

A second later Shikaku Nara – her lawyer – showed up, and Naruto disappeared to sit down with Itachi. " So…", the man stated, a strange look in his eyes that clearly gave away how focused on this he was. " Are you ready?"

She couldn't keep herself from snorting just a bit, although she knew the man wasn't her enemy. " Do I have any other choice?"

Judging by the lopsided smile she met, Shikaku seemed to understand. " Don't worry, this won't last for too long. Orochimaru's lawyer is a piranha, but once you've made it through this is all over and done with. The evidence is so strong that this is nothing but a formality to make sure he gets the hardest possible sentence."

She nodded, trying to force her annoyingly buzzing head into believing that this wouldn't be the death of her.

What happened since was pretty much of a fuzz to her. All she could really distinguish was Orochimaru entering the courtroom, casting her a look that made her sick to her stomach – and his lawyer, who'd been introduced to her as Kakuzu by Shikaku, attacking her. " So, Miss Uchiha…" The man's eyes were dangerous while searching through hers, looking for any signs of weakness. " Could you tell, with your own words, how you ended up becoming the defendant's patient?"

She swallowed thickly against the horrendous taste that flooded into her mouth, and searched for support from glancing towards Naruto, Itachi and Sakura. " My parents died." Realizing that there was no point in trying to hide things, she went on. " My father killed my mother and himself. He was drunk, juts like most other evenings." She refused to care about how her voice crackled when memories she'd almost gotten over flooded back.

* * *

/ _" Go into that closet and stay there, alright? I'll talk to your father."_ /

* * *

" What about you?" Kakuzu's eyes told her he'd found exactly what he wanted. " You were home at the time, weren't you?"

* * *

/ _" It's going to be alright, I promise."_ /

* * *

" Yes, I was." It was almost impossible to not break apart. " He… I watched him shoot my mother. He almost killed me, too."

* * *

/ _Shimmering metal wobbled as it was pointed towards her. Her father's eyes were wide and almost animalistic. " I… Sasuke, I'm so sorry."_

_  
Suddenly, the gun moved and his father pointed towards himself instead. Her scream and gunshot came simultaneously._ /

* * *

Itachi clenched his eyes shut with pain, whereas everyone else in the room – save Orochimaru and Kakuzu – gasped. " According to your file, you spent a week in the hospital's psychiatric ward after that. You were also prescribed to have strong mental medication, as well as intense therapy. And I got the picture you're still under such medication."

It took her all to not bounce up and attack the man. " That's right."

At this point Shikaku bounced up, obviously seething. " Objection! This has nothing to do with the case."

Kakuzu didn't seem a slightest bit taken aback. " Your honour, I'm only trying to give a full picture of Miss Uchiha's mental state."

The judge – a rather old woman – nodded with clearly visible reluctance. " Overruled. You may proceed, but try to stay in line."

Kakuzu's predator's eyes were on her again. " One last question. Did the defendant try anything… inappropriate towards you before the day of the claimed crime?"

She fought sternly against all the nausea bubbling inside. " There were looks and touches, but… I thought they were my imagination. I…" She trailed off.

Kakuzu's eyes flashed. " No further questions."

Surprisingly enough she wasn't relieved at all when Shikaku stepped forth with remorseful expression, for she knew exactly what he was going to ask. " Miss Uchiha, I know it's painful but… Could you please tell what happened the day of the rape, and when the defendant kidnapped you?"

The following minutes were pure nightmare for her while she relived the most hellish experiences in her entire life, all wounds becoming torn thousand times wider than they'd been.

Every touch… Every whispered word that made her want to vomit… Every piece of her dignity and purity becoming chopped to shreds… Every single scream she'd given while Orochimaru violated her flesh and thrust himself into her…

The courtroom was absolutely silent once she was through.

After about half a minute later Shikaku spoke in a somewhat quiet voice. " What gave you the strength to come up here? It must be hard to face all those memories again."

She didn't realize she was crying, nor did she notice how badly she was trembling, while responding. She braced herself and looked directly into Orochimaru's eyes. " Because… I'm sick of seeing him in my nightmares every single night. I want this to finally end."

Shikaku nodded with a slight smile. " Thank you. No further questions."

The judge nodded, then looked at her. " You may step down."

She didn't waste a second while sprinting out of the room, paid no heed to all the looks darted her way and familiar voices asking for her to wait.

She barely made it to the bathroom before throwing up.

* * *

Neji had to admit that at first, it had been far from a joyride to live under the same rooftop with a baby – especially with his mother, who was just overcoming the fact that she'd quite unexpectedly become a grandmother. But, much to his surprise, it appeared they made it through, started to cope the best as they could.

That morning, Neji woke up stunningly late to tiny, demanding sounds coming from Aki's small bed. While he pushed himself up with surprising ease and started to make his way towards the baby, he was vaguely aware of the fact this was the third time in a row he'd fallen asleep into the child's room.

He couldn't keep himself from smiling when Aki chirped with delight upon seeing him. He stroked the little one gently with one hand. " Go back to sleep, kiddo", he whispered. He went on when Aki seemed ready to cry. " Don't worry, mom and dad are here to look after you. So sleep tight."

To his utter amazement Aki indeed closed his eyes and fell asleep with a contented sigh. He kept smiling faintly.

_Not a bad way to start out a day._

With a yawn and stretches, he sauntered out of the room and into kitchen. He blinked with surprise when finding TenTen putting groceries into refrigerator. " What are you doing?" he asked, somewhat dumbfounded.

The girl's smile was slightly embarrassed. " Your mother allows me and Aki to stay here. This is the least I can do."

He shrugged, after giving it a thought starting to help her out. " She doesn't mind having you around", he pointed out. And, if he was completely honest with himself, neither did he. Then, to switch topic, he came to think of something. " Why didn't you wake me up to help you?"

The girl's grin revealed teeth. " You looked so adorable while sleeping that I didn't have the heart to disturb you."

Due to uncharacteristic blush that appeared to his cheeks, he was absolutely thrilled to hear a doorbell. " Why don't you go and open?" he suggested. " I'll finish putting these away."

Appearing unable to come up with anything to say, TenTen nodded and disappeared.

He was just about to sink deep into thought when voices snapped him violently back into reality. " … the hell do you think you're doing?" That was most definitely TenTen's father. " I'm your father! You're going home with me!"

" Get your hands away from me!"

He barged into the room and managed grab the man's wrist just before he would've been able to smack TenTen. Two pairs of smouldering eyes met. " Leave her the fuck alone", he hissed.

The man scoffed. " Do you honestly think you can stop me, brat?"

" If you don't stop harassing my son at this instant…" Neji jumped upon hearing his mother's voice. He'd never heard her as furious as she was then. " … I'll call the police. And if you ever lay a hand on TenTen or even as much as attempt to see her again, I'll have you sued. Understood?"

The man's eyes squinted to slits, and for just a moment Neji was sure he'd attack. " This is far from finished", the man, however, snarled instead and stormed out, slamming the door shut.

-

TenTen's head spun worse than ever in her life while she stared at the closed door.

Over… It was finally over.

She barely heard Neji's voice. " Are you okay?"

She nodded dazedly. " Yeah." She glanced at both Hyuuga's with a faint, wavering smile. " Thank you."

Neji's mother – Kio – smiled back. " It was no big deal. You're a part of the family now."

She had no clue of what to say to that, and no ideas managed to come before her cell-phone started to bleep. It was Sakura.

She glanced at the two apologetically. " Sorry, but I have to take this."

-

Once TenTen was out of the room, Neji's eyes travelled towards his mother. " Thanks."

She merely waved a hand, starting to leave the room. " She's a good girl, Neji. You should tell her."

He frowned, feeling an odd tingle. " Tell what?"

But his mother had already left.

* * *

Temari was just leaving the orphanage to take care of some personal matters, when her eyes spotted something that made her fight between smiling and frowning.

Sitting on a bench right across the street was Shikamaru, his back to her and completely covered by snow, for a storm had started at full force about half an hour earlier.

Despite what'd happened between them the last time they'd met – which was, she roughly counted, over a month ago – she didn't hesitate when crossing the street and approaching. " Now what are you doing here?"

Shikamaru jolted before turning his gaze towards her. His expression was between embarrassment and something strange she didn't recognize. It took her only a second to gather that this had something to do with Ino. " I… wasn't sure if it was safe to come in."

She scoffed, rolling her eyes. " And to think you're supposed to be the ingenious one of us." She smiled slightly. " Just come inside before you'll freeze to death, alright? We'll get you some coffee – my treat."

Pushing his most likely freezing, shuddering body up, the boy gave her a questioning look. " Aren't you going to pry what's happened?"

She shrugged. " I'm merciful today. Let's save interrogations to after you've melted."

Shikamaru cast a grateful glance her way, but didn't speak.

Comfortable silence lingered while they trekked slowly towards the orphanage.

* * *

Get home without getting lost into a storm and get some studying done to avoid failing an exam. That, in all utter honesty, had been Sai's plan. But plans, he came to discover, quite often didn't mix well with reality. For as he approach his dorm building, he saw a tiny, disturbingly familiar figure slumped into snow.

He frowned, not quite trusting his eyes although they'd always been praised of being particularly sharp. " Ino?"

The girl shuddered before looking up towards him. He wasn't sure which one startled him more – how obviously it showed from her eyes that she'd been crying, or how blue her lips were. She made a tiny sniff. " Hey."

He remained silent for a while before managing to gather his voice to speak. " What… are you doing here?"

She responded with sniffing again and burying her face into one hand.

-

Ino was pretty sure she flooded out absolutely everything about her resent break up while Sai all but dragged her into his room and set her to his bedside, then fetched a warm blanket to her shoulders.

She realized that it'd been silent for a while when Sai spoke, taking a seat beside her. " Ino… For how long did you sit out there?"

She swallowed hard, glancing down when his hands started to rub hers. She knew it was to warm her up, but apparently a part of her… " Since…" She swallowed again, strangest tingling appearing to underneath her skin when warmth returned. " … lunchtime, I think."

Sai seemed to fight between amusement, annoyance, disbelief and worry. " No wonder you're frozen."

His lips were so very close. Leaning mere inches forward would've undoubtedly lead into a kiss, and the kiss…

No. (At this, she actually shook her head, earning a questioning look from Sai.) She wasn't ready to fill out that sentence, and therefore…

" It's alright", Sai commented, taking her so badly by surprise that she jumped. " There's no way you could make decisions like this now. It's okay."

She swallowed, then managed a frail smile despite all. " Thanks."

Sai merely shrugged. Although the boy picked up a book and started to study, she could tell his attention hadn't slipped from her, for his hand moved – subtly and slowly – to grab hers.

From thereon he pretended he didn't notice the small sobs that broke through all her restraints, and she pretended she didn't know she was aware of them.

Outside, winter's last snowstorm kept raging.

* * *

That evening, Iruka was just leaving the hospital – his head spinning from sleepless nights, reek of the building and thoughts he wasn't ready to deal with – when he was stopped by a voice he'd last heard a little over a month ago. " Iruka, wait."

_Kakashi?_

He hesitated for a longest time, listening to steps that approached him through snowstorm, then turned around extremely slowly, feeling burning underneath his skin. " Didn't you get everything out the last time we met?" When he'd finally sobered up enough for them to talk during their last meeting, they'd spent several hours talking – or, perhaps, mostly screaming – and he'd ended up getting even more confused than he'd been before. Facing a replay didn't exactly overjoy him.

Kakashi's eyes, however, remained unwavering. " There's something I want to show you." The man handed him a rather skinny notebook, eyes seeming oddly wet (because of wind, he suspected). " It's… It's Rin's diary. The police gave it to me two days after her death, but I couldn't bear even looking at it, and…" The silver-haired shrugged, unable to produce words.

All his reason told him he should've left, as fast and far as possible. But for just this once, he chose to ignore clarity, and instead opened up the book with trembling hands.

-

Kakashi practically held his breath while Iruka skimmed through the book, waiting for the brunette's reaction.

Seeing Iruka's eyes shimmer, he knew exactly which pages the man had reached, and found himself getting lost into a memory.

* * *

/ _The three of them had grown up in the same orphanage since they were little, had become closer than any siblings. That's why nineteen-years-old Kakashi could immediately tell there was something wrong when he approached the building in which Rin's tiny apartment was, having been called by Iruka to go and check up on their friend._

_All fears became confirmed when he found Rin's door hanging wide open, and heard muffled snivels. " Rin?"_

_Judging by the sounds, she fought her hardest to stop sobbing, but didn't succeed. " Kakashi, just… just go, please. Don't come here."_

_For the very first time he disobeyed her, found himself entering the living room – and immediately found it almost impossible to hold back tears._

_There, Rin – whom he'd always associated with smiles and warmth – had slumped to lean against a couch. Somehow constantly rolling tears emphasised the bruises all over her face, smeared stains of blood._

" _Rin…", he choked out, approaching her cautiously and investigating her injuries. " Who…? How long…? Why haven't you…?" Words failed him. _How the hell haven't we noticed anything?!

_She didn't respond, instead buried her face into one hand and cried hard._

_It took what felt like ages before she finally spoke. " Kakashi…", the girl choked out, blinking although it did nothing to erase spilling tears. " I can't do this anymore. I've gotta get away."_

_In his youthful naivety, he thought she meant getting away from Konoha. That's why he didn't stop her when she scrambled up and made her way out of the room, into bathroom where she threw up. (He, however, didn't leave her house that night.)_

_Three days later, he discovered just how huge the price of his misjudgement was._

_That day, no matter how hard he and Iruka struggled to watch over her since that terrifying discovery, she drank as much as she could without falling unconscious and took her car. Kakashi fought the best as he could to save her life when they found her, but he'd only just started his studies, and his feeble efforts weren't enough._

_It was tragic, really, that it wasn't until two minutes before she died did Rin realize just how desperately she wanted to live._

_He couldn't find forgiveness for himself. Iruka couldn't find forgiveness for either one of them._ /

* * *

" Rin… She made her decision that day", he whispered quite unnecessarily. " Without either one of us knowing, she…"

He doubted Iruka even heard him, because the man's eyes – by then shimmering from tears – were locked to the painfully short final entry, which had been written in an already wobbling handwriting.

_Kakashi and Iruka… I'm so sorry._

The heartbreaking truth hit them like a tideway once more just then.

She'd been their best friend, their little sister. And they'd failed to see this coming. They'd failed to save her.

But maybe… they weren't doomed to fail each other as well.

Iruka's blazing eyes were still shimmering when the brunette looked at him, obviously not understanding at all in his current turmoil. " Why are you showing me this? Why now of all times?"

He'd anticipated that question, so he wasn't taken aback or disheartened. " Because you need to let go or you'll never move on from that day. I know it's hard, but you can't keep hanging on to past. On her."

Iruka looked away, usually gentle brown eyes glazing over and tears still rolling. Kakashi could see that the teacher's knuckles turned white from how hard he held on to the diary.

This, he realized with hollow certainty, was all he could do. The rest was up to Iruka.

His body and steps oddly heavy, he turned slowly and started to walk away – from Iruka, from the diary, from memories, from guilt.

After six steps, however, he was stopped by Iruka's surprisingly frail voice. " Kakashi?" There was a swallow. " Thank you."

Without saying a word – knowing that there were none that would've fit into the moment – he nodded and kept walking on. His steps and breathing felt just a little bit easier from then.

* * *

Gaara's instincts had always been good. That's why, while approaching a factory-like building in Tokyo, he could distinguish Kankuro's running steps long before his brother stepped into view.

The boy frowned upon seeing him. " Gaara? What the hell are you doing here?"

He fought the urge to roll his eyes. " You called and I heard gunshots. What else was I supposed to do?"

" I told you not to come!"

" That's one essential reason to why I did", he stated dryly. He then looked around with a frown. " Where is she?"

Kankuro took a look at his watch with slightly furrowed eyebrows. " She should be here any minute now."

Just when those words were out, most of the building nearby exploded to ruins. As they watched with shock-filled eyes, in about a couple of minutes they saw a girl with neatly tied up long black hair and ash-coloured eyes make her way out. She managed to get to them despite quite pronounced limp. It took him a moment to recognize the arrival, but once he did he blinked with surprise.

Kankuro frowned, and Gaara wondered if his brother noticed how tender his brother's moves were when he reached out an arm to support the girl. " Haku, you okay?"

She nodded, subconsciously leaning just a little bit closer to his brother. " We'll better get out of here. Gato is destroying evidence and we're the next ones in line." It was amazing how soft her voice was despite all the emotional turmoil and what was happening. She then noticed him. " Hey, Gaara."

He gave her a nod of recognition, his expression becoming firm. It wasn't until then he noticed how banged up and bruised the two were. " You've gotta get out of Tokyo, before it's too late. I'm taking you to Konoha." He glanced sharply towards Kankuro when the boy's mouth opened. " And I'm not listening to any objections."

* * *

Everything that happened for several hours after her testimony was nothing but a blur to Sasuke – she even suspected she blacked out. The next time her mind was coherent, she found herself from her hospital room, which was blissfully dark with sun having made its dive long since.

Feeling a stab of agony inside her skull she tried to bring a hand to her forehead, but – much to her dismay and alarm – found her hand entrapped. It wasn't until then she realized that she wasn't alone in the room.

She wasn't sure if she wanted to smile or wince upon discovering Naruto, who'd fallen asleep right beside her, his arms wrapped around her. He looked extremely adorable with his hair unruly and a small smile on his lips, but it was nonetheless unnerving to see him so still, almost like lifeless with how pale – nearly bluish – he was, and how he shuddered from cold.

Her moves soft, she lifted her free hand and brushed his cool cheek. " Dobe." He made a sound of discomfort, encouraging a hidden smile from her. " Naruto, wake up. You're making my hand numb."

The blonde cracked his eyes open and grinned sheepishly, but didn't move. " Heh, sorry." There was a small pause, during which they found themselves gathering strength and words. " Itachi went to get something to eat. I promised to keep an eye on you."

She half-glared. " I'm not a kid."

Naruto scoffed. " No, you're not. You're a lot worse."

She thought about retorting, but in the end decided against it. She didn't have the strength, and in all honesty… she didn't even want to.

" Sasuke…" Naruto's voice, no matter how frail, startled her a bit. The boy's eyes were filled with sadness when looking at her. " I just… What that lawyer revealed today…" The blonde gulped. " I'm sorry."

She shook her head vigorously and closed her eyes, although the images flashing behind eyelids made it even harder to hold back emotions. " Naruto, just… It's past, so… Don't. Please don't."

She could almost see Naruto's smile. " Okay."

Her body shuddered involuntarily when without a warning, Naruto inched slowly even nearer to her, pulling her closer than she'd thought humanly possible.

Her eyes opened instantly, sending a dangerous look towards the other. " What do you think you're doing?" In just seconds, she became much too aware of the fact that their faces were now only a fragment apart.

Naruto grinned, though there seemed to be something hidden behind it. " I promised, remember?" the boy murmured, looking at her with those blue eyes that were still so bright and filled with life it baffled her. " I failed the first time around, but I'm not going to let you get hurt again, Sasuke. Not ever again."

At that moment, it became impossible to resist the temptation for another second. She wasn't sure which one moved first, but before she knew it their lips were pressed together, instantly turning warm and healthily pink once more from the intimate touch. As tightly as she possibly could in her current condition, she reached out one hand and pulled Naruto closer, desperately trying to hold on to the boy. She didn't notice that a couple of tears slipped from her restraints. This time neither broke away nor became startled.

Yes, this was without a doubt a huge mistake. But still…

It was the best one she'd ever made.

_I love you, too, damnit._

* * *

TBC, un.

* * *

A/N: Love really does suck at times, huh? (wipes eyes)

PLEASE, do leave a review before you go, yeah? Cupcakes to all of those wonderful souls who do!

I'll start tuning of now, so… 'Til next time, everyone – I really hope you'll all stay tuned for that!

Be good!

**Four chapters to go.**

* * *

**pizzle d**: Haunting and beautiful? Aww - thank you so much!

Huge thank yous for the review – I'm thrilled to hear you liked the post! I really hope you'll be sticking around.


	10. Holding On

A/N: Yosh – another update with relatively fast speed! Man, am I in a roll or what? (cheers, waving bonbons until professionals arrive with sedatives)

First things first, enormous thank yous for all those absolutely amazing reviews! (HUGS and a huge bunch of those promised cupcakes) You've seriously made this story FLY. Thank you!  
Alrighty then, seeing as an update is (hopefully…) much more interesting than me rambling, let's get going. Here's chapter ten – gosh, this story has progressed far already! I really hope you'll like this post.

WARNING: Yeah, yeah, the usual about poor proofreading. I was just in a particularly good mood today, so I chose to ship this out ASAP. 'Hope that wasn't a mistake. (gulps)

* * *

CHAPTER 10: Holding On

* * *

To Sasuke, the following two months felt like a dream of some sort – and for once in her life, it wasn't a nightmare.

Yes, she was still weakening steadily, felt the inevitable approaching. But now, she had Naruto, and some days she almost managed to fool herself into believing that everything would turn out all right. That there was such thing as happily ever after.

This day of April wasn't one of them. It took her ages to wake up, and once she did her whole body seemed to be flaming with merciless pain she was slowly growing accustomed to. Squeezing her eyes shut she groaned and shielded her eyes, wishing that the light would go away and she'd be able to drift back into deep, dreamless sleep.

" Sasuke?" The bed dipped slightly under Itachi weight, and soon enough she felt a hand in her hair that managed to offer mild comfort. Quite uncharacteristically, she leaned to the touch. " Do you want me to get the medicine?"

Unable to utter words she nodded faintly, feeling some tears of pain erupt when the agony ravishing her body grew steadily, making her tremble.

After time that felt much too long for her, the bed moved again as Itachi returned. " I'll try to be as gentle as I possibly can, alright?"

She nodded once more. At least the needle was something she could take, even with all nasty memories of Orochimaru bombarding her head.

She jolted – more of surprise than pain, for it barely stung with all the experience Itachi had received during the past months – when the needle punctured her skin, but soon enough relaxed when feeling slight coolness as the drug made its way into her system.

Her eyes were still closed so she couldn't be sure, but she was fairly sure Itachi emitted a tiny sob after removing the needle. It took several moments before her brother spoke. " It should get better soon", the boy stated in a strangely soft voice.

She nodded one more time. " Thanks", she managed to whisper when pain subsided just a little.

Without saying a word, Itachi put the needle away and lay down beside her, pulling her close. She snuggled closer to her brother and allowed him to stroke her hair while humming softly.

Apart from those injections that she knew soon wouldn't even help much, this was the only thing Itachi could still do for her. She would've been cruel with taking this one away, too.

Neither knew for how long they'd remained there until she felt at least a little bit less pain than before and Itachi dared to speak once more. " You know… There's still five hours left until the sentence reading starts, and Iruka just came by and asked me to watch over Naruto since he's going to work soon. Would you like to spend some time with him?"

She saw no proper reason to lie, so she nodded somewhat feebly.

Itachi moved a little as well to help when she managed to struggle her body up, but she stopped him with a firm shake of head. " I don't need help", she stated, observing his exhausted face. " You should get some sleep before you'll start to look even more tired than I do."

-

When she rang the doorbell of Naruto's house, a cold wave of alarm went through her when Iruka opened, eyes red and puffy. The man's face filled with relief at the sight of her.

She arched an eyebrow. " Hard morning?"

The man sighed, shoulders slumping. " The worst type. Jiraiya just left after practically knocking Naruto down with medication."

She swallowed as hard as her bone-dry throat allowed her to. " Can I… see him?"

" Of course." Iruka's expression – although he tried to hide emotions – was so sad her chest made a twinge. " Right now, I think you're the only medication that could help."

Her steps slow from tiredness, pain and damnright fear, she approached Naruto's room and entered after a knock. She'd never felt pain as intense as the one flooding over when she saw him.

Although she'd just seen Naruto a day earlier – when he'd left hospital after yet another long stay – the changes she saw terrified her. Just one glance told that she wasn't the only one steadily fading away.

Upon hearing the door open, Naruto opened his eyes halfway and grinned brightly upon seeing her. " 'ey, 'Suke."

Her face softened while she started to approach, finally sitting to his bedside. " Hey", she murmured, running a hand down his terrifyingly cool cheek. " How are you holding up?"

The boy shrugged. " 'm just fine." He cast a look as hard and demanding as he could possibly muster her way. " 'op worrying."

" Then you stop lying to me, dobe", she all but whispered, laying down beside the boy. He responded with shifting and pulling her close. " I know your chest hurts."

" 's okay", the blonde murmured, peering into her eyes and grinning faintly despite obvious ache. " J-man's drugs are effective. 'sides, you're here."

Her eyes softened, the time spent with Naruto having taught her quite a bit about expressing emotions. " Dobe", she murmured and – unable to stop herself – pressed her lips quite gently to Naruto's, deepening the kiss upon feeling the boy respond.

For the next couple of minutes, both forgot about absolutely all pain.

She had no idea of for how long they'd laid there, close enough to feel each others' heartbeats, until Naruto's voice whispered once again. " 'wanna go 'ith u."

She shook her head, tickling his chin with her hair. " Dobe, no. You're not well enough and you know it." She looked into his slightly bleary, worried eyes. " Stop worrying. I have Itachi with me – I'll be fine."

Obviously too tired to argue, Naruto nodded and snuggled closer, pressing his forehead into the crook of her neck. " 'u have to leave now?"

She closed her eyes when burning took them over and shook her head, stroking his hair gently. " No", she whispered. " I don't."

Much to her surprise, Naruto managed to convince his body into moving enough to give her lips a tiny peck. " Good." Despite pain she could only imagine, the boy grinned feebly. " 'love you."

It hurt as though heart had been ripped from her chest, but also made her feel so warm and strangely comforted that she just had to smile feebly despite all ache and fatigue. " I love you too, dobe." It was the first time she said it out loud to anyone, and strangely… Although the words horrified her, she was glad when they were released from weighing her chest.

Seeing the smile that spread to Naruto's face – noticing how pain faded from his eyes – was well enough to convince her that saying those words had been well worth the scratch it made to her still stone hard exterior.

Not saying a word she found her body press just a little bit more tightly against Naruto's, and surprisingly enough she didn't struggle when the boy pulled her closer.

She could face harsh reality a little later, she decided just before falling asleep. Right now, she preferred staying here in their own little world.

* * *

That morning, TenTen woke up from a somewhat restless sleep to a strangest sensation of something big approaching. Waking up slowly, she frowned and felt panic arising upon realizing that she'd fallen asleep into Aki's room, and her son wasn't in his bed.

At that exact moment there was a knock. " Yeah?"

She wasn't all that surprised when Neji peered in. " Morning."

She gave him a small smile, then yawned. " 'Morning." She frowned upon realizing that Neji wasn't holding their son. Ice-cold alarm grew tenfold. " Where's Aki?"

" My mother took him to nearby park." It wasn't until then she realized that Neji seemed… almost nervous. The boy cleared his throat, barely daring to meet her eyes. " Look… There's something I need to… ask you. Once you've woken up, could you come to living room?"

She nodded, struck speechless by the odd behaviour of her lifelong friend.

Once she got into the room, a huge gasp escaped her and her eyes flew wide. " Oh my…!"

The room was completely darkened with curtains having been pulled to cover windows, the only light offered by what seemed like thousands of candles placed absolutely everywhere. The room seemed magical.

She was ushered out of her shock when Neji stood before her, a strange expression she'd never met before upon his face. She frowned. " Neji, what…?"

The boy interrupted her, obviously too anxious to let her finish. " Look, I… We've known each other for basically all our lives. We've been friends, lovers, and tons of things I don't even have a name for. And… I suppose I've loved you, all that time." The boy swallowed hard, those words obviously almost too much to be spoken, looking into her eyes. " We… We have a son, and… I want to give him a family. I want you to be my family. So…" Once more, she was struck speechless by shock when the boy fell down to one knee. Soon enough an extremely beautiful, simple yet elegant ring was offered her way. " Will you marry me?"

* * *

It had been one of the hardest decisions in his entire life, but eventually Gaara had agreed to escort Kankuro and Haku to a local police station to give their reports on Gato. He knew it was something the two had to do, but that didn't stop him from worrying.

" _We've been running for far too long already. It's time to do the right thing"_, Haku had said. _" I'm sure everything's going to work out in the end."_

He hoped from the bottom of his heart that the girl had been right.

Eventually he ended up into Naruto's house, in which he'd visited far too few times lately. He blinked a couple of times with surprise when entering through unlocked door and finding Sasuke, who was just sneaking out of Naruto's room.

The girl seemed surprised for a moment, but eventually managed a brief greeting. " Hey."

He responded after a couple of beats' pause. " Hey."

" Naruto was asleep, but I think he's just waking up so it's safe to go in." Sasuke's eyes held something strange when finding his. " He's missed you." He wasn't sure if it was real or his imagination, but he was pretty sure there was a hidden '_I missed you, too_'.

There was no accusation in the girl's voice, but he still felt a heavy slash. " I wish I could've come more often."

Sasuke merely shrugged. " Well, you're here now." He was utterly thankful to not face any questions as to what he'd been doing or even why he hadn't come more frequently. He had a feeling the girl understood.

Heavy plunge of pain attacked his chest as he discovered just how much pain there was hidden into the girl's dark eyes. He could tell even something as simple as walking was a struggle for her. " So it's getting worse." It was more of a statement than question, but Sasuke nodded anyhow. He fought the urge – to bite his lip or touch her, he didn't know, most likely both. " Is there something I can do?" The softness of his voice felt unfamiliar and unnerving to him, but at the moment he didn't manage to care.

The girl seemed taken aback for a moment, until something hard took place from pain in her eyes. " Just… Look after Naruto for a while, okay?" _No longer dobe_, he noted along with the strangely fervent side tone in her voice, and for some reason felt a twinge in the pit of his stomach. " I have… somewhere I need to be, and Iruka's working. So… Make sure he's okay in the meantime, that he doesn't have to be alone."

He nodded and blinked a bit to rid to stinging from his eyes. " Sure."

Sasuke didn't smile, but her features softened while she nodded as well. Her slumped shoulders rose a tiniest bit. _Thank you._

Seeing as there was nothing further that would've needed to be voiced between them, she started to walk away. Just as she was crossing his path, he acted on an impulse and grabbed her surprisingly cold hand, giving it a brief, tender squeeze. After a moment's stun, she returned the gesture. They stood there for some blissfully relaxed, contented moments until he let go softly and Sasuke walked away as steadily as her failing legs allowed her to.

He had to compose himself for a couple of minutes until he managed to bring himself into entering Naruto's room.

The blonde's closed eyelids fluttered and opened. A sleepy frown was aimed his way. " 'Suke?"

He felt a shudder cross his whole frame while he took the chair placed beside the blonde's bed. " No, just me." He was almost whispering, although he had no idea of why. " Sasuke will be back soon."

Naruto nodded and licked his apparently dry lips, visibly composing his busy head. It took a while before the other spoke again, seeming a bit more like his usual cheerful self. " I haven't seen you much lately." The speech held some slurring, but was comprehendible anyway.

He felt a huge bang of guilt. " I'm sorry. I've just been busy – with Kankuro's return and everything." In whole honesty, that was only one piece of the truth. In reality it was next to impossible to meet both Naruto and Sasuke, to see his practically only friends fade away.

Naruto nodded a bit, blinking somewhat sluggishly. " How's he doing back here, anyway?" The blonde grinned. " Konoha's pretty small after Tokyo."

In some twisted way he was glad Naruto was in no condition to see the dark flash in his eyes. " He's… been settling in pretty well so far." There was no need to burden Naruto with the full, messy truth, he decided. Taking a long look at his friend's terrifyingly pale face, he spoke again. " You should sleep. Maybe it'll bring some colour to your face." They both knew it wouldn't, but decided that sometimes there was no harm in a little make believe.

Naruto frowned. " 'bout you?"

He just couldn't keep himself from smiling. " I think I can manage on my own for a little while. Now sleep – Sasuke and Iruka will kill me if I don't give you chance to have any rest."

Naruto tried to fight it for a moment, he could tell, but eventually the blonde drifted into a sleep.

For some minutes he simply sat there, watching as one of his two best friends slept, until he slowly reached out his hand and took one of the what seemed like hundreds of manga-books left to a table nearby.

Peaceful silence lingered while Naruto slept and he sat there reading, as though guarding the blonde's sleep, doing the only thing he could for both of his best friends.

* * *

Hinata had always been a light sleeper. That's why the rather loud, nearly chilling screams coming from downstairs woke her up quite effectively.

" … _not going to let you throw him out now that he's finally found home!_" her mother's voice roared with deranged female-lion's rage, the voice left booming into walls. " _And I'm also not letting you send my daughter to the other side of the world just because of your stupid fears!_"

She gulped thickly while getting out her bed, trusting her weight to wobbling, uncertain legs. While she made her way out of the room and into hallway, the voices grew a lot louder.

" _Saisha, that… thing sneaked into our home, messed up our lives and now he's about to steal away our daughter! And you're calling my fears stupid?_"

" _He's a homeless teenager, Hiashi – a child, just like Hinata and Hanabi! And he sure as hell deserves a decent home after everything that bastard put him through!_"

On her way downstairs, Hinata spotted Kimimaro sitting nearby the end of the stairway, his back leaning against the living room's wall. Judging by his expression and how his head was hung, he could hear the screaming voices all too clearly. She tried to give him a small, reassuring smile while passing by, but he refused to look at her.

Just then, she was stood by the room's doorway, and shuddered at the look in her parents' eyes and their defensive stances. This, she could tell, wouldn't end prettily.

" I've been in police force for almost twenty years", the man snarled. " I can recognize a monster when I see one."

Her mother's eyes narrowed. " What I'm looking at right now is much more of a monster than that boy could ever be."

That, apparently, was the last straw to her father. Her eyes widened at the same speed with the man's fist when it was darted firmly towards her mother's face – but as soon as the man looked into his wife's eyes and realized what he'd been doing, the hand fell. She'd never felt silence as heavy as the one that filled the air at that moment.

Eventually it was her father who spoke, whispered. " Saisha…"

Her mother's eyes remained narrowed and flamed with such fury she'd never faced before. " Hiashi, leave this house, right now."

The man swallowed thickly. " When…?"

" I don't know." She could see how hard her mother was breathing. " Just leave, before I'll end up doing something I'll regret."

Her father opened his mouth, but closed it again soon enough, apparently realizing that there was no good any words could've done. Very slowly, steps heavy, the man turned around and started to walk out of the room. On his way, his eyes met hers for a brief moment, then looked away upon understanding what they'd seen. Even a single word wasn't spoken until the man had disappeared into bedroom to pack up. In living room, her mother burst into tears, clearly still not aware of her standing there.

Unable to bear the sight anymore, she turned her gaze towards where Kimimaro had been sitting and felt her chest turn cold.

He was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

Sasuke was pretty sure that in any standards, she could be called a masochist for entering the courtroom that day, with Itachi stood behind her reassuringly.

" Are you sure you're up to this?" her brother whispered, taking a step closer to her.

She steeled herself when Orochimaru, sitting beside his lawyer in defendant's bench, suddenly turned his snake's eyes and they collided with hers. She shuddered, but refused to look away, to let him win this round as well. " Yeah", she breathed out. " This… is something I have to do. I… I'll be fine."

Had she looked, she would've noticed the questioning look Itachi gave her, but the boy ended up guiding him to a bench anyhow.

In a couple of minutes the judge finally appeared, stern look upon her face. " Would the defendant please rise?"

Her ears were filled with buzz while the list of crimes was flooded out.

Bribing…

Kidnapping…

Assaults…

Rapes…

Murders…

So busy her mind was, that it felt like a punch straight across her face when the judge suddenly spoke out words that took all her breath away. " … sentence you to death…"

Her head spun so badly that if Itachi hadn't been there for her support, she would've most likely collapsed.

To death…

The bastard… He was… He was going to die.

It was finally over.

She couldn't see it, because all her eyes managed to fix on was Orachimaru's form that tensed up with nearly unleashing wrath, but he could sense Itachi's frown and gaze. " Are you alright?"

She nodded, although she felt ready to pass out and knew that there was no way she'd be able to stand, let alone move, for at least half an hour. " Yeah…", she managed. " I… I think will be."

* * *

Shikamaru had always been absolutely helpless when it came to emotions of any type whatsoever. That's why the two months following his break up from Ino had been utter nightmare for him.

For the first couple of weeks, he supposed, he'd been somewhat mourning over the lost love, friendship and affection. But the more he put his mind into it, the more uncertain he became as to what it really was he felt. That confusion wasn't made any easier with Temari hanging nearby most of the time, making his head whirr in a way no one had ever managed to before.

So, in short, he was in a deep mess.

That thought was just sealed when he felt something cold hit his arm. Turning his head, he discovered that Temari had just thrown a snowball at him. He frowned. " What the heck was that for?"

The girl gave him a somewhat moody look. " You've been zoning out for the past ten minutes. Trust me, I'd tried anything aside that and throwing you to get driven over by a car."

He grinned sheepishly. " Sorry. I was just…"

The corners of Temari's mouth twitched. " … worked up? Yeah, I know." She looked at him with evaluating eyes, tilting her head. " Now… If you're planning on being any help with finding that present, you'll have to stop being a zombie. And I don't think you can do that if you don't speak out whatever the heck it is weighing your mind."

He frowned. This sure as hell wasn't something he wanted to talk about with her. " It's not that simple."

She scoffed, her cheeks gaining a faint rosy tinge from cold and emotions. " And why not? Just open your mouth and speak." She smirked, tilting her head again. " Or is the mighty Shikamaru Nara scared?"

He growled, his eyes flashing. " Goddamnit…"

With nothing further, he charged forward and slammed his lips against hers, feeling electric jolt go through his entire body.

At first Temari yelped with surprise, but soon enough started to respond and wrapped her arms tightly around him, clearly not about to let go anytime soon. He deepened the kiss still.

Through the haze that appeared into his head, one coherent thought floated.

_This_ was something he could be completely, utterly sure of.

* * *

What Shikamaru didn't know, was that his little outbreak of emotions was witnessed from the other side of the street.

As bad as she felt about disregarding her friend like that, Ino managed to pay barely any attention to Sakura while they walked down the main street in Konoha, having decided to go shopping in order to take their minds out of… everything, basically. At the moment, her head was simply too busy, an inch from hurting.

Clearly as she knew that it'd been the right thing to do, she was still dealing with the aftershock of her break up with Shikamaru, tried to come to terms with the fact that she'd basically lost one of her friends as well as her boyfriend. Also, although she most likely wasn't the brightest being on the face of Earth, she could tell that Sasuke was growing weaker in a terrifying pace. One of her best friends was dying, and all she could do was watch. She couldn't even do a bloody thing to help the raven deal with all the physical pain.

Her cell phone's dial tone snatched her out of those thoughts. She groaned upon discovering who it was.

Sakura's head turned. " Sai again?"

She sighed heavily, putting away the phone. " He's been trying to call me. I know he's worried and I'm a bitch for shutting him out like this, but…" Her mouth opened, but nothing came out.

" You're just not ready?" Sakura filled in. The girl – who, she could tell – had had several sleepless nights gave her a slightly sad look. " Why don't you try to deal with your feelings instead of running from them?"

She snorted. " Why don't you deal with yours?"

Sakura stuck her tong out at her, and for a first time in what felt like ages they both laughed hard.

Only few moments later the mood changed entirely. She was alarmed when Sakura tensed up all of a sudden upon seeing something and gulped.

She frowned, her gaze starting to move. " What is it?"

" Ino, you shouldn't…"

The warning came much too late.

She watched – or no, rather stared with repulsion gathering into the pit of her stomach – when Shikamaru leaned down and slammed his lips against Temari's, then wrapped his arms around her in a way she never remembered him holding her.

Her mouth went completely dry and filled with stomach turning taste she didn't remember facing ever before.

_So… This is how fast he moves on, huh?_

Fair enough, he wasn't hers to have and hold anymore, but that didn't mean seeing _this_ wouldn't have been allowed to sting. Yet still, despite all the pain, she felt strangely relieved, comforted.

This was the final seal. It was really over.

She shuddered a bit with startle when feeling a hand on her shoulder. Upon looking she met Sakura's worried, almost sad face. " Are you okay?"

She swallowed thickly and blinked furiously, her eyes stinging mercilessly. " Yeah, I suppose." It took her all to not look towards her ex-boyfriend for one final time, and even more to create a feeble, pathetic attempt of a smile. " Now let's get going, 'k? There's obviously nothing for us in here."

All Sakura managed to do was nod.

* * *

Hinata had no idea of for how many hours she'd spent outside in freezing spring-wind, fervently trying to catch a sight of certain white-haired figure. She'd already searched from just about every place she could think of, and found her hope fading slowly. Fear started to take place.

What if the boy had done something stupid? What if…?

Fortunately, she never had to finish that mortifying thought, for just then her pale eyes caught Kimimaro slumped next to the trailing of a old, wooden bridge she'd once shown him and told that it was a special place to her, her favourite spot. With petrified eyes she examined him, but calmed down upon discovering that apart from clearly visible shuddering and some tiny frostbites the boy seemed to be all right. What seemed like streams of iced tears could be seen on his cheeks.

She swallowed thickly and approached slowly, not entirely sure as to what she should've done. " M-Maro?" The boy's eyes were scared when finding hers, then looked away with apparent shame. She swallowed. " I… I've been w-worried, and s-so has mom." She found herself shuddering after having been outside for so long, and realized just how cold it was although it was already April. " I-It's cold in h-here. You s-should come home."

Kimimaro's eyes filled with such sadness it ached even her. " That's not my home – I know that much now."

" I-It could be", she pointed out, with startle notifying just how strong the currents inside her were. " If you w-want it to be."

Kimimaro glanced up towards her, eyes filled with something she identified as surprise and desperate hope.

She lowered herself to his level, so that they could look at each other directly into eyes. " I-It's alright. E-Everything's going t-to work out, I promise." She laid a glowed hand to his cheek, despite fabric feeling just how painfully cold it was. " L-Let's go home, o-okay?"

Kimimaro's eyes were filled with stun and disbelief when they bore into hers, as though the boy hadn't quite believed that someone would actually do something like this for him.

That moment was all it took for them. Unnaturally slowly, they leaned forward and their lips brushed together, first softly, then tightly and determinedly.

Hinata knew it'd be a long, rocky road before things would be anywhere even close to cleared out, let alone simple. But for once in her life, she wasn't scared or hesitant. Because now, she finally had something that was well worth enduring it all.

* * *

Once her head had cleared out a little after the trial and Itachi had given her yet another injection to chase away at least small amount of pain, Sasuke found herself once more from the doorway of Naruto's room. She was surprised to find the boy sitting up, reading a manga-book of some sort.

The boy's gaze immediately turned towards her, and a frown of anxiety appeared. " Well?"

She gave a deep sigh while closing the door and walking up to him, sitting right beside him. " It's finally over", she announced.

She was almost sure Naruto sighed as well while lacing an arm around her and pulling her close. " 'Bout bloody time."

Her body working on its own accord, she snuggled closer, sinking into thoughts for a little while.

Even though two months had already passed, it still terrified her how intense the feelings that appeared whenever she was around Naruto were, how fast and completely the boy had taken over a huge part from inside her. With her history, all uncertainty when it came to future and this being her first romantic relationship, that was no wonder. But still, although these were her last months, in some twisted way she was happier than she'd ever been before. She prayed from the bottom of her heart that she'd have the guts to tell Naruto that before it'd be too late.

" Naruto…" Her mouth worked before the effects of those thoughts had properly faded. " Can I… stay here, for a while?" Had this been anyone else than Naruto, she would've felt utterly humiliated by asking something like that.

" How about you and the other girls' poker evening?" the blonde asked sleepily, not resisting when she – smashing down all voices of reason and restraint from inside her – leaned her head against his shoulder, closing her eyelids as they felt impossibly heavy.

Ever since the day she'd been released from the hospital, out of Ino's suggestion, her four friends had gathered into her room every other day – since that was the furthest she had the strength to go most of the time – and played cards for a while until she got exhausted. With her having ordered from beginning that words 'cancer' and 'death' weren't allowed, those session were more like group therapy than anything else, but it was still nice change and offered good distraction.

" There's still two more hours", she murmured, feeling like a heavy, wet blanket had been thrown to weight her down. Her eyes refused to open. " So no rush. Besides, TenTen and Hinata have already sent messages that they can't come, so it'll most likely be cancelled." As low as it made her feel, she was almost relieved. With the pain she was in at the moment and crushing fatigue, she wouldn't have been up to any type of social interaction anyway.

" 'K." Although her eyes weren't open, she could feel Naruto's watching her. A hand appeared to stroke her hair. " Is it that bad?"

She buried her head into the crook of her neck, feeling this uncharacteristic urge for affection. " Hmm."

" Sleep." Naruto's voice was surprisingly firm, reassuring. A kiss was planted to the top of her head. " I'll be here, so don't worry about nightmares."

Hard as she struggled – wanting to spend these precious hours with him – it appeared the hectic day had affectively taken its toll. In a matter of seconds – with Naruto familiar presence soothing her screaming head – everything turner into a blur.

-

While Sasuke slept, Naruto's somewhat exhausted blue eyes observed her, and almost filled with tears.

Yes, he was an optimist and captain of oblivion. But even he couldn't close his eyes from just how frail she (they both, he wasn't ready to admit just yet) had become. Even as she slept her face held several wrinkles of pain he hadn't even noticed before.

Bravely defying breaking down into sobs, he wrapped his arms tenderly around her and pulled her close, desperate to feel the little warmth her body still emitted. Her scent filling his mind, he lifted his gaze towards the window and sky, a soul tear slipping from his hold.

Just a little more time, that was all he wanted, all he asked for.

He pulled her even closer, his body shuddering from sobs he was desperately trying to hold back, and closed his eyes, trying his hardest to hold on – for both of them.

He didn't want to be ripped away now that he finally had _this_. Was a little longer too much to ask for?

He buried his face into the sleeping girl's hair and broke down.

-

His cell-phone was in silent mode, so he didn't know about it snapping to life. It wasn't until several hours later did he finally get the message left into his answering machine.

" _Hey Naruto, it's Jiraiya._" His doctor's voice was tense. " _Listen up, there's something important I want to talk to you and Iruka about. Could you book an appointment as soon as possible?_"

* * *

TBC, dattebayo.

* * *

A/N: Tissues, anyone? (I almost needed such for listening to 'Knocking on heaven's doors' while writing this…)

(As a side note… This chapter is the just about only one during this story left under ten pages of length. What a shorty!)

Okay, seeing as I've already spent waaaaay too much time in front of a computer, I'll better get going. PLEASE, do review! Now what should I promise as a bribe this time…? Ice cream! Yes! Ice cream for all reviewers! Aww, c'mon, don't pretend you wouldn't want some. (I've got chocolate chips for it, too…)

(sweatdrops) Eer, yeah… As you can see, it's high times for me to tune out. I really hope I'll see all of you guys next time!

Peace out!

**Three chapters to go, counting in the epilogue.** (Holy cupcakes!)


	11. For You I Will

A/N: Yes, your eyes are seeing correctly – the new chapter IS here! (dances around with joy)

Okay, first things first. Holy damn, all those reviews – thank you, from the very bottom of my heart! You can't even imagine how much inspiration you've given me. (gives HUGE hugs and even bigger bowls of ice cream) **Due to lack of time I'm able to spend on my computer, the responses to your reviews for chapter nine will appear to your mailboxes tomorrow.** I'm terribly sorry, but it was either this or updating tomorrow, so… (winces)

Okay, seeing as you're supposedly here to get on with the story, let's go folks! I truly hope you'll enjoy of this new chapter!

WARNING: Yeah, you know the thrill… Once again, I haven't had a lot of time for proofreading, and well… (cringes) I hope this isn't all that horrible despite that.

(By the way… If you've got time, read the lyrics I added to the bottom of this chapter.) (sniff) (Beautiful!)

* * *

CHAPTER 11: For You I Will

* * *

Itachi Uchiha had always been a realist, but also a great believer of every deed getting its reward. That's why he'd survived through his childhood in full sanity – even with his father more often than not in a mood that put both he and Sasuke into danger, even with playing the role of a punching bag. He'd always been certain that it couldn't possibly last forever, that eventually his father would have to pay for what he'd done. That there was light at the end of all it.

But lately… Those principles had become greatly strained.

Yet another set of weeks had passed, and April's spring had turned into May that was waiting for summer to glow. And at the moment – watching helplessly as Sasuke needed more and more medication for pain, realizing that his sister's life was near torture – he had barely any faith in justice whatsoever.

" Itachi?" Turning his head, he found Kakashi's worry marred face. " Are you alright?"

He nodded, feeling oddly numb. He failed to notice the moisture on his cheek when brushing it with one hand. " How is she?" His voice was croaky and somewhat tight, just like it was quite often these days.

" Asleep, but I doubt for long." The doctor sighed heavily, clearly gathering strength, and he knew to expect nothing good. " Look, Itachi… I'm sure you know that Sasuke's in a lot of pain right know, don't you? I've understood that you're forced to give her heavy dosages of medication already, and it's already hard for her to eat as well as keep food in."

He nodded as his throat went too dry for any words, already guessing where the conversation was going.

" Life at home is becoming unbearable – for both of you." Kakashi's eyes were filled with so much sadness and sympathy that it was nearly impossible to not crack apart. " In hospital, she'd receive better medication. We'd be able to make her feel as comfortable as possible, until…" The man trailed off, clearly deciding that the rest wouldn't have to be voiced.

He stood absolutely frozen for a longest time, those words crossing his mind over and over again like icy tide wave. Silence must've lasted for several minutes until he was finally ready to meet the man's dark eyes again. " Thank you, for coming."

Kakashi nodded, most likely coming to a realization that his message had been understood and there was nothing more he could do. " Call me if there's anything on your mind, okay?" The man gave him a slight smile. " Try to hang in there."

His head moved mechanically.

As soon as the man was gone, he leaned his full weight against the nearest wall and squeezed his eyes tightly shut. Had he not bitten his lip so tightly it bled, he would've definitely screamed out loud.

* * *

That morning, Naruto woke up feeling surprisingly well – so well, in fact, that it was for once almost possible to imagine that there wasn't anything wrong with him at all.

Still, he found it impossible to feel comfortable and relaxed with Jiraiya's words from almost two weeks back echoing inside his head.

/ _" I know it's a huge decision to make, but you should make up your mind as soon as possible. This could be your last chance."_ /

His blue eyes held a look of longing in them when he, sitting behind kitchen table, gazed towards the window he knew well as Sasuke's.

He missed Sasuke, so long as that was possible with them seeing each other almost daily. He wanted to feel the girl's comforting touch. Maybe it would've been enough to chase away at least some of the annoying worries spinning inside his head.

" Naruto." Iruka's voice was tender, but also so firm that it immediately caught his attention. His foster-father's brown eyes locked with his. " I know it's eating you up inside to keep hiding something like this, and I'm pretty sure Sasuke's also smart enough to figure out that something's wrong. You should tell her – she deserves to know."

He groaned, glancing towards the familiar window once more and wondering if Sasuke's friends had already left so he could sneak in for a visit. " Easy for you to say." It wasn't that he wouldn't have trusted Sasuke with his secret, of course. Just… She had so much to carry already, and he was supposed to support her instead of making her worry. Plus… Talking about it might've made it more real than he could bear.

" You can't keep dodging it forever, you know?" Iruka offered him a faint smile. " Trust me, the faster you get it done the faster it's away from weighing you." Just then, the man's eyes strayed through the window, and he could see colour disappear from usually tanned skin. " I'll… come back soon, okay? There's something… I need to take care of." With that the man disappeared.

Out of curiosity, he looked towards the yard spreading outside, and discovered a doctor he'd through Sasuke learned to know as Kakashi. He could actually feel how tense both men became upon facing each other, and snorted to himself.

_Looks like I'm not the only one who's been doing dodging._

Soon, however – deciding that Iruka wouldn't appreciate him butting into his problems – he refocused on Sasuke's window.

He'd tell her, definitely. Just not today.

Right now, he had math-tasks to do. Just like a normal kid.

* * *

Kakashi's throat went completely dry and tight as though someone had been choking him when he noticed Iruka approaching.

The brunette's usually gentle brown eyes were filled with a storm of emotions when the man stood a couple of steps from him. It took long before the other found words. " I've been reading… that diary you gave me."

He nodded, to no avail trying to find some sort of a sentence or decision from Iruka's eyes.

He had no idea of for how long the silence had lasted when Iruka suddenly spoke, catching him off guard. " Do you remember when we met Rin for a first time, back when we were just kids? She made us swear that we three would be friends forever." The man sighed heavily. " This… She wouldn't have wanted this."  
He surprised himself with speaking. " I know."

Iruka was silent for a little bit longer. " I'm not sure if either one of us is ready for it yet and I'm not promising miracles, but… We need to try and start sorting this." The man's eyes met his. " We need to start moving on eventually, right?"

He nodded once more, something warm he hadn't felt for a very long time seeping into his chest. " Yeah."

He jumped a bit when his pager chose to come to life. It was from the hospital.

He gave the brunette an apologetic look. " I've gotta go. Duty calls."

Iruka waved hand as a sign that he understood. " I'll call you someday."

" Okay." This time, he knew that he could trust on that promise.

At that point, both came to realization that everything necessary had been said for the moment. The route was finally open.

Moving with the exact same speed, he stepped into car and Iruka started to walk back into his house. For some ridiculous reason both found themselves smiling just a little.

* * *

Sasuke suspected that she'd slept for about two hours until forcing herself into waking up. Itachi had just managed to give her yet another injection to rid at least a tiny part of pain when the room became crowded by her four friends – or actually, today there was an addition to the group.

Ino's eyes became wider than saucers when she noticed the baby in TenTen's arms, and the rest of them weren't any less shocked. " You'll better have one heck of an explanation for that one!"

The girl swallowed thickly, seeming more nervous than they'd ever seen. The words she emitted came with obvious effort. " This… is Aki. My son."

For that day, poker was forgotten when TenTen finally told them everything about Aki, as well as about Neji's proposal.

They were all struck stunned while staring at the beautiful ring on the girl's finger. " S-So… You're g-getting married?" Hinata asked in bewilderment.

TenTen nodded with an all but blissful smile, stroking Aki's hair while the baby made happy sounds, pleased by all the action. " Not yet, of course – we're only sixteen. But eventually, yes. We'll be a family."

Despite every ounce of pain and tiredness, Sasuke found herself smiling ever so slightly. She'd never seen her friend this happy before, and she couldn't help feeling elated for her. Plus, it felt easier to think about… _leaving_ when at least one of her friends had her life on a right track.

There was a huge storm of congratulations once what TenTen had just revealed sunk in full force, and both the girl and Aki came dangerously close to being squashed by all the hugs they received.

" You know…", Ino finally spoke out. The look in her eyes clearly told that there was one of the blonde's famous ideas incoming. " I think we've all been stressing out too much lately. We deserve some fun, right?" Even Sasuke found herself nodding – goodness, she'd never been this badly in a need of distraction! " I've got a suggestion."

* * *

Naruto wasn't exactly sure at what point of reading his math book he'd fallen asleep, but he nonetheless woke up to feeling something slightly moist against his forehead. He shuddered a bit with startle at first, but then smiled. " 'Suke…"

" Hey, dobe." Had he not been so good at denial, he would've noticed just how frail the voice was, how much pain was hidden behind it. He opened his eyes when a soft hand stroked his cheek, and met onyx orbs that were still full of fire and life. " I thought I should come and check up on you."

Grinning, he struggled into a sitting position in his bed and planted a demanding kiss to the girl's crackling lips, shuddering at the sensation of her responding. " You do know that you don't need an excuse to come and see me anymore, right?"

Making a small, unidentifiable sound the girl snuggled closer, burying her face into his shoulder. Obeying her unvoiced request for affection, he wrapped one arm around her.

They sat in comfortable, almost blissful silence for a long time, eyes closed and focused on listening to each other's breathing.

Surprisingly enough, it was Sasuke who spoke first. " There's… something I came to ask." With visible effort, the girl managed to move her head and look into his eyes. " Ino had… an idea – I think extravaganza was the term she used. Engagement party for TenTen and Neji." The girl swallowed, her throat apparently growing painfully dry and sore from those words. " It'll be by the shore in two days. Do you want to come?"

Again, a huge grin appeared to his face, all fatigue and pain in his chest just about flying away. " Are you kidding? It'd be cool!"

The girl smiled a little, eyes sliding closed. " That's good."

" Hey!" He tried to sound pissed, but the tone came far closer to worry. His one hand stroked the girl's silky hair, which she'd managed to maintain despite harsh treatment. " Are you going to use me as a pillow again, teme?" He wondered if Sasuke noticed just how dangerously close his voice came to cracking.

Probably not, because the raven was already halfway into dreamland. " Stop whining, dobe", she commanded in a soft voice, grabbing a hold of his free hand. " I know you have nothing against this, so relax."

Not needing any further coaxing, he buried his face into Sasuke's hair, for the time being forcing her mind out of all shadows and fears.

He had this moment, damnit. And he wasn't about to let it go to waste.

* * *

Iruka wasn't entirely sure if he came closer to smiling or crying when he opened the room's door for about an hour later, and found the painfully frail teens sleeping in each other's arms.

His hand trembling so much it surprised him, he closed the door soundlessly to allow them some privacy, using all his willpower into keeping his emotions in check. (Heaven knows, the last thing those two needed was to wake up to his sobs.)

As he walked back downstairs and started to prepare himself some tea, he discovered that someone else had also needed an escape. Itachi was sitting heavily on the porch of he and Sasuke's house, holding something that looked like a cigarette in a badly trembling hand.

In a spur of a moment, he abandoned what he'd been doing and walked outside, making his way towards the teen. " I'm sure you've guessed it by now, but Sasuke's with Naruto." Teary, surprise- and gratitude filled eyes met him when he offered a lighter and lit up the raven's cigarette. " I figured you could use some help."

" Thanks." The Uchiha seemed extremely embarrassed all of a sudden. " I've never smoked before."

He waved a hand casually. " Could you give me one?" Itachi nodded and offered one cigarette towards him. He lit it up with chilling gratitude. " Thanks." He took a long exhale, barely managing to keep himself from wincing at the horrendous taste that made him want to throw up. " I've never smoked before, either."

Itachi nodded as well, his eyes revealing that he understood.

Comfortable silence lingered while they smoked together. That evening, the only thing keeping them from falling apart was the silent support and understanding they got from each other.

* * *

Hinata's mind was busy with about a ton of thoughts while she prepared herself for the tiny party a couple of days later.

She gasped slightly when feeling a cool hand on her shoulder, but relaxed immediately when seeing Kimimaro's face through the mirror she'd been looking at. The boy handed her an extremely beautiful flower she couldn't recognize. " I… thought it'd fit well with your dress. It's the same colour as your eyes."

Her cheeks gained a clearly visible red hue as she accepted the gift. " T-Thank you." She turned around and looked at the boy's eyes, searching. " A-Are you sure y-you don't want to c-come along?" When she'd first asked him to come as well, it'd become clear that he was far from ready for social affairs like this. But there was no harm in making sure.

The boy nodded firmly, a flash crossing his eyes. " Yeah." A cautious smile rose to his lips. " But you should have fun."

She nodded as well, and in a spur of a moment placed a small peck to the boy's nose. " I-I'll be back in a c-couple of hours."

It was the first time she saw Kimimaro really, truly smile. It wasn't one of the bright ones she saw for example Ino giving, but noticeable nonetheless, and made her heart flutter just a bit. " I know", the boy stated in a soft voice.

Her head moved for one more time while she smiled. She opened her mouth, but then realized that no words she would've dared to say just then came to mind. Smile still lingering, she turned around slowly and walked out of the room.

Had she been just a little bit more observant, her mind not clouded by all the feelings she still hadn't grown used, she would've noticed the bad feeling spreading underneath her ribcage, signalling of approaching dark clouds.

* * *

That afternoon, Sasuke was absolutely bewildered to feel only slight pain when she woke up slowly from her nap. Yes, she knew it was only calm before the storm, but at the moment she refused to care about painful facts.

Pushing away absolutely all thoughts, she forced herself up despite the ache that'd stubbornly remained, and decided that she'd have to get herself ready so she wouldn't miss the entire party.

About fifteen minutes later she found herself from the stairway, cursing under her breath at how mercilessly the dark blue dress she'd chosen revealed her lost weight. " Itachi, I'm…" She, however, blinked a couple of times when facing Naruto instead, sneaking his way out of a hallway. Her eyebrow bounced up. " You're sneaking around through backdoor again, aren't you?"

Naruto shrugged with a sheepish expression, and she noted with something close to relief that the boy seemed much more cheery than she'd seen him in a long time. " Your own damn fault for leaving it open." Although he tried to hide it, she could see the quite impressed look he darted towards her dress, despite how frail the body underneath it was. " So… Ready to go?"

She walked up to him and – ignoring how ridiculous such a gesture made her feel – pressed her head against his chest and wrapped her arms loosely around him. " Hn." _Now that you're here, yes_, was something her pride didn't allow her to say.

Had it been anyone else but Naruto touching her the way he did, she would've thrown a violent punch, but now she all but melted into the blonde's tender hold. " Are you sure you're up to this?" the boy murmured.

She fought against urges of rolling her eyes and chuckling when yet again faced with the exact question Itachi had been repeating over and over again for the past couple of days. " Yeah. I can hang on for a couple of hours." Although they would've never said it out loud, she knew that this meant a lot to her friends, plus now that she had a particularly good day it sounded like a nice idea to think about something apart from death and sickness. Her eyes found Naruto's. " How about you?"

The blonde smirked, giving her a tiny, teasing kiss. " With you, I'll go through anything."

She couldn't fight against the tiny smile any longer, and swatted the boy's head gently. " Dobe." Her expression then became far more solemn as she once more noticed the dark shadows looming behind Naruto's eyes, and realized that it was high time for her to know the truth. " Naruto, I…"

Fate, however, wasn't willing to show her mercy. She absently noticed relief flashing by Naruto's face when Itachi entered the room, flashing the blonde a tiny, tired smile. " Hey, Naruto." The boy then looked at them both. " Are you two ready to go?"

* * *

Social as he was, Naruto found himself being mildly relieved upon discovering that there wasn't anyone else than Sasuke's four friends and Neji waiting for them at the beach. He'd decided to finally tell his news to the raven today, and for some ridiculous reason he was afraid that too much hassle would make him change his mind.

" Hey, 'bout time you showed up!" Ino greeted with a huge smile and short wave of hand. " We almost started out the picnic without you guys."

" Pay no attention to her", TenTen mouthed with a mischievous glint in her eyes. " She's been hyper all day."

" Hey!" Ino narrowed her eyes at the girl. " I noticed that!"

While the two girls bickered playfully, Naruto grinned and found his eyes moving towards Sakura. His curiosity was aroused when he noticed the wordless communication between she and Itachi – questioning looks, nods and cautious smiles. Was there something he was missing?

His thoughts were swept elsewhere when Neji spoke to him and Sasuke while the rest of the gang went to get something to eat. There was a deeply amused look upon the boy's face. " Are these meetings always this… bubbly?"

Sasuke chuckled – a sound he was beyond happy to hear. " Welcome to the family."

" Hey, you should come and see this!" TenTen's voice called out all of a sudden.

Sharing curious looks, the three of them made their way to the others, who were looking at something. They blinked at what was revealed.

Not too far away, stood by a tiny cliff, was held a wedding ceremony – priest, purple-haired beautiful bride, somewhat pale-faced constantly coughing groom and about twenty guests were present. Despite distance, they could hear the priest clearly. " With great joy, we come together to join this man, Gekkou Hayate, and this woman, Uzuki Yugao, in matrimony. This marriage is an event in the lifetime of a love. Neither I, nor all society, can join these two lovers today. Only they can do what they have chosen. They are joining themselves, each to the other. As they find union with one another, they proclaim that union today and pledge its future. We, by our participation in this celebration, do but recognize and honor their intention to dwell together as husband and wife." The priest looked at them both. " Would you please repeat after me?"

After some time, quite familiar phrases were heard, first by the groom. " I, Hayate, take you, Yugao, to be none other than yourself. I promise to stand by your side; To encourage you, and be open and honest with you…"  
With a sideways glance, Naruto noticed that TenTen first shuddered with surprise, then smiled. Looking down, he noticed that Neji had taken her hand, which she was now holding tenderly. Nearby them, Sakura's hand – which was mere inches from Itachi's – twitched, but didn't move.

" … To laugh with you, and cry with you; To always love and honor you…"

He was fairly sure he saw Ino, who was stood nearby, jolt as though she'd received an electric shot of some sort. As the rest of them watched with some confusion, she whispered something to TenTen, then took off and started to run away as though there'd been a fire on her tails.

" … Both freed and bound by our love, 'Till death do us part."

Those words felt like a hit right across his face and he gasped, almost staggering backwards. He wasn't sure of what he would've done if a familiar hand hadn't clasped on to his just then. Looking from Sasuke's hand to the girl's face, he could tell from tight her jaw was that she was lingering mere inches from breaking apart despite all their audience.

" '_Till death do us part."_

All rest of the ceremony was nothing more than blur to him as he stood there shivering like a leaf.

Desperately holding on to the hand in his, he begged – prayed – that the hold would be allowed to last for at least a little bit longer.

* * *

Ino had never been much of an athlete. In fact, she'd always rather skipped all other lessons of physical exercise than dancing. That's why she was stunned by how fast she made her way to the door of Sai's dorm room.

The boy, to say the least, seemed surprised when finding her. " Ino?"

She'd been planning on what to say since she'd taken off from the beach, but now that she was finally face to face with him all words disappeared. She swallowed thickly, then wheezed through pants. " I've been… an idiot."

The boy frowned, seeming to overcome first surprise just a little. " Are you… okay?"

She scoffed. " No." Her eyebrows then furrowed as she noticed something. On the boy's hand was what her stunned eyes identified as a plane ticket to France. She looked at him with a frown. " Sai… What's going on?"

The boy was silent for a mighty while, then sighed and spoke out. " Ino, the thing is… My year in here is soon over. I'm going back to France in ten days."

Ino felt like a bucket of icy water had been poured down on her and she shuddered so heavily that even Sai must've noticed. " Oh…", was all she managed to utter.

Yes, of course she'd seen this coming. After all, exchange students only stayed in country for a year. But that didn't help with diminishing shock.

She took one step back, then another, her eyes already stinging mercilessly. " I… have to go", was all she was able to mutter.

Sai's mouth opened, but nothing came out.

She broke her own speed record with how fast she spun around and darted out, slamming the door shut after her.

-

What the teens couldn't possibly know was that both stood behind the door for a longest time, as though considering opening it, but in the end both turned around and walked off.

* * *

As she entered Aki's tiny room some hours later, TenTen just couldn't keep herself from smiling upon finding Neji rocking the baby gently in his arms, humming softly. She leaned against the doorway and watched while the little one gradually fell asleep and Neji put him to the tiny bed, moves more tender than she'd ever seen them.

The boy seemed mildly surprised upon seeing her, but composed himself in a matter of seconds. " He fell asleep like a rock. Apparently, this day was far too exciting for him."

Acting on an impulse, she walked up to the boy and placed a long, searing kiss to his lips.

It was almost impossible to restrain a chuckle when she faced Neji's utterly confused expression, saw the adorable faint blush on his cheeks. " What… was that for?"

She only smiled as response.

Unfortunately, the moment of peace was soon sliced cut. Both tensed up – almost like knowing to expect disaster – when there was a sound of doorbell. After exchanging a look that revealed they were equally nervous, they walked soundlessly to see who the visitor was.

Neji's mother just opened the door as they arrived, and frowned. " What is this about?"

TenTen felt blood inside her turn into ice when a policeman marched over doorstep, stern look upon his face. " We're looking for Hyuuga Kio and Moreishi TenTen."

* * *

Hinata was usually rather calm when walking towards home. But today, something seemed to be wrong.

Her bad omens were generally to be trusted. That's why the feeling inside unnerved her. And soon enough her fears were confirmed.

Absolutely all breath left her when she saw a police vehicle parked right in front of her house.

She'd never ran that fast in her entire life.

* * *

Waves caressed the beach as well as her toes when Sasuke's slow steps carried her to the familiar figure admiring water that was sparkling like diamonds.

Although there was a grin upon Naruto's face, it didn't take her a lot to realize that it was disguising something. " I've always love beaches", the blonde revealed while she slumped down to the sand beside him, subconsciously leaning her head against his shoulder. After the time they'd spent together, neither even noticed how their hands laced together, holding on tight. " It's too bad Iruka doesn't dare to take me here much anymore."

She found herself admiring the sight, and for just a moment it was deviously easy to believe that everything was all right in the world. " Hn." She wasn't fully certain of for how long they'd sat there until she finally found the strength to speak out again. " Naruto, I know you've been hiding something for almost two weeks now, and I can tell it's driving us both insane."

The blonde gulped and tensed, blue eyes widening ever so slightly. She waited surprisingly patiently until there was finally audible response. " I'm… not hiding anything."

She sighed heavily, feeling a headache attacking. " Dobe, do you honestly think you could ever lie so that I'd believe it?" She moved her head, so that their eyes clashed together. " Naruto, please. Trust me."

The boy hesitated for so long that for just a moment she was sure he wouldn't speak out at all. But in the end, there was a whispered response. " Jiraiya, he… asked Iruka and I to meet him." The boy swallowed. " He said that he's been doing some research, and… There's an operation. It's got high risks, but it could also give me enough time to make it until finally get that transplant."

She swallowed thickly, disbelief filling her.

Naruto, he… he actually had a chance. If only he'd make it through that surgery…

Her eyes hardened ever so slightly as she suddenly understood. " You… didn't agree to go through with it, did you?"

" I was scared, okay?" Naruto all but shouted, voice crackling badly. " I… I was scared! What… What if…?" The voice faded away.

She found one of her hands gaining a life of its own, moving to the blonde's cheek. Her eyes softened as Naruto leaned closer. " Naruto, I know it's scary, but… If this is your only chance, you'll have to take it."

To her immense surprise, a couple of tears travelled down the blonde's cheeks. " What… about you?"

Not saying a word, she leaned forward and gave Naruto a kiss as deep as she could possibly muster, desperately attempting to pour everything she was feeling into the gesture. Once she was done, she left her forehead to rest against the boy's. " Don't worry about me, dobe", she murmured, caressing his teary cheek with one finger. She opened her eyes to look into his. " There's still hope. You need to keep holding on."

Naruto sniffed. " Only if you do the same thing, teme."

She closed her hands with a slight smile, the hand holding Naruto's tightening although each and every part of her body ached mercilessly, begging for medication. " I'll hold on as long as I have to."

Obviously not finding the hidden meaning from behind her words, Naruto wrapped both arms around her and pulled her as close as he possibly could, burying his face into her hair. It took her all not whimper at the pain his tender hold caused, instead returned his hold as tightly as ravishing agony and exhaustion allowed her to. She could tell that he tried to say something, but apparently this wasn't the time for forming words.

She caught movement from the corner of her eye, and found Itachi standing quite nearby, tired eyes looking at her expectantly. She shook her head as strongly as she could without screaming out from pain and catching Naruto's attention.

No, not yet. She wasn't ready to go. She wasn't ready to leave this beach, or Naruto.

Itachi nodded, obviously understanding, and walked off slowly to grant them some privacy.

As soon as her brother was gone, she squeezed her eyes tightly shut and leaned her forehead against Naruto's shoulder, her entire frame trembling uncontrollably. She tried to tighten her frantic hold on the still sobbing boy, but wasn't sure if she succeeded.

Crashing waves wiped away her feeble, quivering whisper. " I love you, dobe. I love you so much."

The next morning, Itachi carried Sasuke into the hospital, as her legs no longer supported her weight and was barely conscious. The exact same time Naruto sat in Jiraiya's office with Iruka, taking care of all arrangements concerning the soon to be taking place surgery.

* * *

TBC, believe it.

* * *

A/N: Goodness! I can already imagine what it'll feel like after writing the next chapter… (shudders)

Yet again (insert A LOT of growling here) I'm in a hurry, so I'll have to get going. But before that, PLEASE leave a review before you leave! I've still got a huge stash of special treats in store just for you… (winks, showing cupcakes and other juicy stuff) I know you want these, so don't even think about resisting. (snickers) And… Yeah, once again, I'm so sorry about not being able to respond to your reviews today! But hey, think positively – if I don't send those responses tomorrow, either, you can blackmail me into giving you ice cream.

Until next chapter, folks! I suggest you to brace yourselves… (gulps)

Be good!

* * *

**Two chapters to go, counting in the epilogue.** (Freakin' unbelievable!)

* * *

Lyrics to "For You I will" from Monica:

Yes, when you're feeling lost in the night  
When you feel your world just ain't right  
Call on me, I will be waiting  
Count on me, I will be there  
Anytime the times get too tough  
Anytime your best ain't enough  
I'll be the one to make it better  
I'll be there to protect you, see you through  
I'll be there, and there is nothing, I won't do

I will cross the ocean for you  
I will go and bring you the moon  
I will be your hero, your strength, anything you need  
I will be the sun in your sky  
I will light your way for all time, promise you  
For you I will, yes yeah, yeah

I will shield your heart from the rain  
I won't let no harm come your way  
Oh, these arms will be your shelter  
No, these arms won't let you down  
If there is a mountain to move  
I will move that mountain for you

I'm here for you, I'm here forever  
I will be your fortress tall and strong  
I'll keep you safe, I'll stand beside you right or wrong

Lay my life on the line, for you I will fight, oh  
For you I will die, with every breath, with all my soul  
I'll give my word, I'll give it all  
Put your faith in me, put your faith in me  
And I'll do anything...oh...

I will... oh...


	12. Last Chance, Last Dance

**This is a re-posted version of this chapter. There's been some fixing of spelling- and grammar errors, plus changes to the paragraph of Kimimaro and Hinata. I'm so sorry about the trouble I'm causing you with this!**

A/N: Talking about a fast update! (gawks) This simply wanted to come out, without me having any real control over the matter, so… (grins) I figured you guys wouldn't mind a turbo-speed appearance of a new chapter.

Now, first of all, thank you from the bottom of my heart for all those fantastic reviews! (HUGS!) It's still completely beyond me that you've grown to like this lil' fic THAT much. Thank you!

Okay, because you're probably itching to get going, here it is – the final chapter before an epilogue! I really hope you'll enjoy of it.

WARNING: If you've been close to tears/crying with the chapters so far, get tissues. Seriously. (sweatdrops)

* * *

CHAPTER 12: Last Chance, Last Dance

* * *

/ _**Just one last dance  
Before we say goodbye  
When we sway and turn round and round and round  
It's like the first time  
Just one more chance  
Hold me tight and keep me warm  
Cause the night is getting cold  
And I don't know where I belong  
Just one last dance**_ /

(Sarah Connor: "Just one last dance")

* * *

For Sasuke, the following days went in a drugged blur. But although she was in a hospital, didn't have the strength to get out of bed and was most of the time under heavy medication, she was painfully aware of each day and hour drifting by.

No matter what Naruto and Itachi tried to tell her during the worst of moments, she could tell from the looks upon people's faces and the intensifying pains that there was no time to waste. She wasn't about to leave the hospital anymore.

With Itachi having gone to take a little walk (to go somewhere he could safely release all the surging emotions, she knew), she was asleep until there was a cautious knock on the door of her room.

She managed to push her body into a sitting position with a scowl of pain just before Sakura peered in. She knew the girl tried to hide it the best as she could, but she could still tell the pinkette was startled by all the changes that'd happened to her in just one short day. " Hey", the girl all but whispered, managing to push on a tiny smile. " Can… we come in?"

She nodded, desperately trying to not show just how much the simple gesture hurt. " Yeah." Her voice was scratchy and barely audible, but fortunately didn't fail her.

Following the pinkette, her three other friends entered, each taking the exact same places with their chairs they'd had from day one.

Her eyebrows furrowed in an instant when she saw even through thick makeup the bruise decorating TenTen's cheek. She sent the girl a demanding look, only to receive a shake of head and a somewhat panicked gaze.

' _Not yet, not here, please._'

With utter reluctance she nodded the best as she managed to. She was in no condition to start an interrogation, and it was pretty obvious all questions would be of no use.

Her thoughts were soon ushered elsewhere when the usual chatting started, with Ino doing most of the talking and the rest of them trying their best to follow.

While the others talked, she found herself observing them – after all, she didn't have much strength for chatting anyway. She felt saddened, worried and even mildly angered by what she found. Dark shadows around eyes, tightness of facial muscles, worry and sadness imprinted deep into their eyes…

They were only sixteen, for crying out loud, and they were fast on their way towards looking like thirty years olds. She couldn't leave things like this.

" You know…", she stated, despite lack of volume managing to catch the others' attention. " You're always asking me… what you could do for me. Now, I've figured out one thing." She swallowed, those words already almost more than her throat could handle. She sent hard looks at the four others. " You're trying to 'protect' me from it, but… I can tell there's a ton of things weighing your minds. Take care of them."

" Hey!" Ino whined in an instant, deep frown upon her face. " You can't make us promise something like that!"

She chuckled a bit, although it felt like her vocal cords had been torn apart. " Yes, actually… I can." Her expression hardened again. " And now that I think about it… You're not allowed into this room until you've sorted things out. Understood?"

She outstretched her fist, balling it the best as she could. One by one, the others tapped their fists against it as a sign of agreement.

" So…", Ino stated, looking at her with a somewhat sceptical expression. " How do we start this… 'fixing?"

Her eyes flashed despite everything. " Sai's flight… It's leaving today, right?" Her eyes moved towards a clock hanging on a wall, and her heart skipped a beat when its pointer moved forward, ticking time away. " In a few hours."

Ino nodded slowly, her expression revealing that she was starting to click and eyes full of pain. " Yeah. But there's nothing I can really do to stop it."

She rolled her eyes, growing exasperated. _These four are hopeless!_ " You love him." It was a statement, no question. " Go there, and tell him."

The blonde scoffed, cheeks blushing madly. " I can't just burst into a airport and scream out my love for him! That's pathetic!"

" What you're doing now is pathetic", Sakura pointed out, tone between dry and amused. The pinkette grinned cheekily. " You know, Paris is a city of love. Do you really want to take the risk of losing him to someone in there who's got more guts than you do?"

For a longest time Ino's disbelief- and accusation filled gaze drifted between them. Finally the girl narrowed her eyes. " You guys are horrible. You know that, right?"

She grinned haughtily. " Yes, and proud of it. Now go."

In just a breath, Ino had scrambled up from her chair. Catching them both off guard, the blonde placed an extremely quick, friendly kiss to her forehead, then dashed out of the room.

TenTen stared at the closed door. " Do you think she'll make it?"

" Yes", Sakura declared, an inch from smiling. " Yamanaka Ino has never lost something she truly wants."

They all nodded in agreement.

" I'll… have to get going, too." There was a look of determination upon TenTen's face as she got up, no matter how badly her legs trembled. " There's something I need to do."

" I-I'll go w-with you", Hinata stated, also pushing herself up. The girl's eyes were apologetic when meeting hers. " S-See you tomorrow."

She wondered if they could see behind her frail smile, no matter how hard they tried to deny what they found. " Yeah. Of course."

'Goodbye' wasn't a word that would've fit into her vocabulary. That's why she merely waved a hand briefly as the two went.

Her eyes remained on the closed door for a longest time, and despite everything she couldn't help but feel some relief.

There was a lot of mess going on – she knew, although none of her friends wanted to burden her with details. But maybe, just maybe, some reason would appear into middle of all the chaos after all. At the moment, she found herself wishing she could've been there to see it happen.

As the others left, Sakura lingered behind, a strange, pained look in her green eyes she'd never seen before. It was almost like the girl had guessed just how delicate and precious this moment was.

She frowned. " What's wrong?"

Without saying a word, the pinkette practically sprinted to her and wrapped a pair of tight arms around her, obviously forgetting how much the hold hurt her. It didn't take long until she felt her best friend's body shudder with silent, heartbreaking sobs. She squeezed her own eyes tightly shut and held on the best as she could.

It was the first time since she'd been brought into the hospital she cried.

* * *

Gaara had faced many terrifying situations during his life. That's why he managed to remain remarkably calm while stood in a airport with Temari and Skimaru, saying byes to Kankuro and Haku who were finally – after giving their testimonies to help capture Gato – flying far, towards safety.

It wasn't like Temari to hug, so she settled with folding her arms and giving stern looks at the two. " Take good care of yourselves, okay?" Her gaze fixed on Kankuro. " I don't want to receive even more news of stupidities you've done."

The boy rolled his eyes. " Yes, mother. We'll be extra careful."

He was rewarded for the comment with a swat to head.

Then seeming to catch something in the atmosphere, Temari spoke to Shikamaru. " I think we should get going. There'll be too much of testosterone flying around soon", she announced.

Shikamaru frowned. " Don't you want to watch…?"

Temari interrupted the boy with whispering into his ear. Gaara didn't even want to know what his sister said to the brunette to make his eyes that wide and cheeks blush like tomatoes.

Apparently satisfied with her work, Temari looked towards Kankuro and Haku once more. " Be good, okay? And come back safely."  
Both nodded, and the three of them watched while Temari dragged still dumbstruck Shikamaru out of the airport.

Once they were alone, Gaara's eyes moved towards the couple. Despite himself he couldn't shrug off the wave of worry. " I'm trusting New York to be safe."

Haku nodded. " My old friend Zabuza promised to take us in", she revealed. " No one but us four and prosecutor knows where we're going."  
" Good." That was far more people than he would've liked, but he supposed it'd have to do for now.

Just then, the final call for flight to New York came.

Fighting the urge to tell them to be careful – for he was pretty sure Kankuro would've punched after having heard the sentence for million times already – he eyed on the two of them. " I'll see you as soon as the trial is over and done with."

Kankuro grinned. " We'll see about that. New York sounds like such a dreamy place that I'm not sure if I'll want to come back."

Haku smiled to him. " Thank you, for everything."

Giving him rather quick goodbyes, the couple turned and started to walk away, towards a hallway that'd lead them into distant unknown.

As he followed the couple's distancing backs with his gaze, Gaara hoped dearly that they knew what they were doing, that they'd finally have the life they'd been dreaming about.

He wasn't willing to lose a sibling for someone's carelessness.

* * *

Hiashi Hyuuga arched a surprised eyebrow when there was a knock on the door of his small, foul smelling motel room.

Pretty much no one even knew he was here. Who could it be?

He opened the door with some hesitation, and almost recoiled when finding Hinata.

It took at least a full minute before he managed to speak. " What… are you doing here?"

Steps filled with certainty he'd never seen in them before, Hinata walked inside, closing the door after her. " Kimimaro got out of hospital the day before yesterday. He told me to come and see you."

He gave a wry smile. " So he's changed his mind and wants to press charges ofassault?"

" No." Hinata looked right into his eyes, her own filled with sadness and tiredness that had never lived in them before. It wasn't until then he realized that she wasn't stuttering at all anymore – there was no longer uncertainty and insecurity inside his daughter. " He wanted me to come and sort things out between us."

He nodded slowly, wondering exactly where this was going.

After gathering herself for a longest time, Hinata finally spoke. " There's only one question I have for you. Answer to me honestly." The voice was nothing but familiar. " Will you ever be able toaccept Kimimaro? Because… if I have to choose between you two…"

Hard as he tried, he couldn't utter a single word, but clearly Hinata knew to take his silence as an answer. Her eyes filled with disappointment, and he could tell she once more saw a scene from a little over a week earlier.

/ _Two policemen dragging him away from badly bleeding Kimimaro._ /

/ _" Stay the hell away from my daughter!"_ /

/ _His knuckles stained by the boy's blood._ /

/ _Hinata's scream of utter terror. " Leave him alone!"_ /

/ _The sound glass door made when Kimimaro's surprisingly light form crashed through it._ /

/ _" I'm not going to let you touch her ever again, do you hear me! Not ever again!"_ /

/ _Three pairs of eyes meeting him – his wife's filled with disbelief and rage, Kimimaro's with fear and sadness, Hinata's with tears and disappointment that'd never disappear._ /

Without saying another word she left, and both knew she'd never come back again.

He found himself walking up to the room's window, and felt his chest clench at what he saw outside. Still mildly bruised-looking Kimimaro, who'd obviously been waiting for Hinata, wrapped his arms gently around her when she started to cry as soon as the motel's door was closed. His daughter immediately leaned closer, obviously gaining comfort from the boy's touch, and he pressed a tender kiss into her hair, lips moving with what seemed like words of comfort. After several moments the two started to walk away slowly, Hinata's head pressed against Kimimaro's shoulder and one of the boy's arms holding her protectively.

It wasn't until much after the two had disappeared did truth finally sink into his head.

That day, Hiashi cried for the first time in his life.

* * *

Never in her life had TenTen trembled the way she did that day, stood before a police station.

Pretty much all fear, however, disappeared when Neji's warm, familiar hand slipped into hers. " Are you ready for this?"

She nodded, running one hand across her newest bruise that was no longer hidden by makeup. " Yeah, I am." She squeezed his hand. " I should've done this years ago."

Neji nodded, giving her a small smile of encouragement. To her stun, she managed to return it.

Not saying a word, they started to walk towards the doors with their steps in perfect sync, she finally fully prepared to give officials a detailed report of absolutely all the hell her father had put her through.

It was time to end this nightmare.

* * *

After coming to a realization that hanging around Temari and Shikamaru would drive him insane, Gaara found his way into Sasuke's room. As soon as he entered, he realized that there was something different about this meeting.

After having visited Sasuke only once since she'd been brought to the hospital, it terrified him how much she'd already faded away – there was absolutely no colour upon her face apart from the dark hue around her eyes, and her lips seemed nearly bluish. The last time he'd come, she'd needed help with something as simple as eating, and had needed the strongest medication for pain to subside enough to let her sleep. Now…

The girl – who'd most likely been dozing off – opened her eyes slowly upon hearing his steps. He was almost sure she came close to smiling. " Now isn't this a pleasant surprise." Her voice was far thinner than the one he remembered.  
He frowned a bit while glancing around, finding something amiss. " Where's Itachi?"

" I told him to go home." After hesitating for a while, she outstretched a hand. He could clearly see how badly it trembled. " I… didn't want him to see this."

He swallowed thickly. " Is it that bad?"

The girl's expression turned wry while the hand fell, muscles not having the strength to keep it up any longer. " Worse." It was quite clear that only pride kept her from screaming out loud.

He tried to speak, but realized that there were no words for a situation like this.

His moves almost soundless, he took the chair beside Sasuke's bed, then grabbed her hand and squeezed, hoping that the hold wasn't tight enough to cause pain. He didn't dare to look at the girl's face, but was pretty sure that there was gratitude amongst pain while she returned the gesture.

Only silence chased away the explosions of emotions neither was willing to face at the moment.

* * *

Naruto felt his skin tingle with expectation while Jiraiya slowly finished up his examination. " Well?" he finally inquired, unable to bear the wait for another second.

" I don't want to get your hopes up for nothing, but…" The older smirked at him, seeming more relieved than he'd ever seen the man. " It looks like the stronger medication and rest have done their tricks. Your condition is well enough to allow you to go through with the surgery tomorrow." The man made some notes. " So… I'm taking it as you're feeling better today?"

He nodded, hoping dearly that his face didn't reveal any of the pain that was constantly lingering underneath his skin, like a painful reminder of reality. After all, he _was_ feeling better than he had even once during past week. " Yeah." A thought floated into his mind. " If you're done poking me, can I go and see Sasuke?"

Jiraiya smiled knowingly. " Sure thing, kiddo. Just don't strain yourself – or her."

He rolled his eyes. " Yeah, yeah, I know."

He grit his teeth and endured the humiliation when both the doctor and Iruka appeared for aid when he all but wobbled his way away from the examination table, then did his best to make it towards a awaiting wheelchair without falling down.

Jiraiya had commanded him to use that thing as soon as he'd checked into the hospital five days earlier, for his own safety. He'd immediately declared the thing as his worst enemy.

" I'll come and make sure you'll actually go into bed as soon as I've talked to Jiraiya a bit and taken a small walk, okay?"

" 'K." The waved at both of the men. " 'Catch you later." With that, he started to make his way towards a very familiar room.

It was already pretty late, and Naruto knew he should've been trying to get some sleep so he'd be fully rested for the surgery that'd take place early in the morning, but he just couldn't restrain himself any longer.

He grinned widely upon finding Gaara from Sasuke's room as well. " Hey! I thought you'd never show up."

He could've sworn that the redhead's eyes shimmered for a moment when moving towards him, but it was quickly blinked away. " I just took Kankuro to airport, and decided to come and check up on you two." The boy's eyes glanced towards the room's door behind him. " I'm not sure for how long I can stay, though. Those banshees who call themselves nurses seem pretty determined to not let visitors in past visiting hours."

He scoffed. " You should see them during dinner time. Most of them give me creeps."

Sasuke's eyes were first questioning, then filled with relief as she looked at him. " So Jiraiya said it's okay for you to go through the surgery."

He smirked brightly once more, although some fear bubbled underneath his ribcage. " Yup. I'll finally get it over and done with tomorrow morning."

Just then, there was a knock on the room's door, and a nurse who seemed somewhat less terrifying than the rest – Shizune, her nametag said – peered in with a slight smile. " I know you'd like to talk, but both of the patients need rest, and I can't keep the other members of staff from figuring you out much longer."

Gaara nodded, eyes revealing that he understood the potential danger. Before going out, the redhead placed one firm hand to his shoulder – he suspected that in the boy's case, that was as good as a hug. There was a somewhat troubled look in the other's eyes, and for a moment he was almost sure he saw traces of soon to be erupting tears. " Good luck with the surgery."

He grinned, although it didn't come out as suavely as it could've. " I thought you didn't believe in such a dummy thing as luck."  
Gaara flashed him a tiny, rare smile, then looked at both Sasuke and him, eyes lingering on the girl for some seconds as though trying to memorise. " I'll come back as soon as I can."

" You'll better hold on to that", he all but commanded, feeling very tired all of a sudden. It didn't surprise him, really; by then he'd learned to know that these 'good moments', when he felt almost healthy, never lasted for longer than an hour or so.

Giving a brief nod, the redhead opened his mouth once more, but in the end words didn't come and the boy walked out instead, closing the door without making a sound.

As soon as Gaara had left, he made his way to Sasuke's bed and – although it required almost more effort than he could muster – got up from his chair, then laid down beside the girl, his breathing wheezing just a little when he leaned his tired head against her chest.

The girl sighed, running a surprisingly cold hand through his hair. " Dobe, you should be resting instead of running around like this."

He shrugged, after gathering his strength for a bit managing to lift his head so that he could look at Sasuke's face, trying his hardest to ignore all the alarming signs of weakness on them. " You know I can't fall asleep in my own room. It's much more comfortable here."

A small smile appeared to Sasuke's face, and he fully expected some sort of a witty comment. Instead, however, the girl planted a soft kiss to his lips. (He was fortunate enough to not realize that it was only soft because she didn't have strength for anything more forceful.) " I know your chest hurts", the girl murmured, closing her eyes and wrapping a pair of comforting arms around him. " So sleep."

He snuggled just a little bit closer the best as he could, feeling a stab of guilt upon seeing the carefully hidden trace of pain on Sasuke's face, telling how much the simple gesture hurt. He gave her a tiny, light kiss of apology. " G'night, 'Suke."

" Night, dobe", the girl murmured, trusting herself to relax in his arms.

It didn't take more than seconds before they were both asleep, blissfully unaware of what the next day would bring.

-

About an hour later, Itachi and Iruka appeared to the room almost simultaneously. Both struggled under a thunder of varying emotions upon seeing the teens before they managed to move.

While Iruka scooped Naruto's painfully thin form into his arms and Itachi took his usual guard's place by Sasuke's bed, they exchanged one look that said everything necessary.

'_I understand._'

They shared nods of goodnight and byes – not daring to speak in fear of disturbing the teens' sleep – before Iruka left the room and Itachi lost himself to a book, both much too aware of how precious these long nights were.

The clock hanging on its place against the wall made an unnaturally loud sound when yet another minute ticked by.

* * *

Ino had never been known for patience, and that day – sitting in a taxi that was firmly stuck on traffic jam that'd appeared out of nowhere – she felt just about ready to rip something or someone apart.

She took a look at her watch, and grit her teeth so tightly the driver must've heard it.

Only half an hour left before Sai's flight would take off, and it'd be too late.

The driver, a greasy man at the age of about fifty, looked at her through rear view mirror with an apologetic expression. " Miss, I'm sorry but the traffic is impossible today. It looks like you won't be getting anywhere for at least a couple of hours."

All warmth disappeared from her. " A couple of hours?" she all but shrieked in disbelief.

At that moment, she made up her mind. Throwing a quite impressive amount of money to the driver, she opened the car's door and started to slide out.

" What do you think you're doing?" the driver demanded in disbelief, staring at her with wide eyes. " It's not safe to walk out there! Are you out of your mind?!"

She shook her head, blue eyes flaming. " No, I'm not. I'm in love." With that as her judgement, she slammed the door shut and started to run.

-

Staring at her distancing back through the car's window, the driver shook his head. " Women…"

-

After running around for what felt like ages, her legs so weak and pained that only sheer determination and adrenaline kept her from falling down, Ino finally crashed through the airport's double doors, gaining weird, confused and suspicious looks from everyone nearby.

She, however, was completely oblivious to the rest of the world while she started to dash on, heart hammering with fear. " Sai!"

What if she'd been too late, after all? What if he'd already…?

Those thoughts – along with all others – faded into nothingness when her widened, disbelieving eyes suddenly caught a familiar person walking what seemed like miles away, only some short steps from a hallway that'd take him to almost the other side of world.

Her head spinning madly, she stormed forth, only to find people blocking her path. " Sai!" The boy paused for a beat but went on, probably thinking he'd imagined hearing her voice. Tears almost broke. " SAI, I LOVE YOU, DAMNIT! I'M NOT GOING TO LET YOU WALK AWAY FROM ME!"

* * *

The next morning, Iruka didn't know what to think while watching sleeping Naruto, eyes stinging mercilessly from lack of sleep and threatening tears.

The boy's surgery was only hours away, and he realized that he'd never been this terrified in his entire life.

Naruto, he… He was already in such a bad condition – it was a close call that the doctors even allowed him to go through the surgery.

He… He could lose Naruto. He could lose his son.

He forced those chilling thoughts away upon seeing Naruto move, and managed to smile at the boy. " Morning." He hoped the teen couldn't hear the tension in his voice. " Are you ready?"

His foster son grinned, though there seemed to be something missing. " As ready as I can be." The boy thought for a moment before speaking with clearly evident hope in his eyes. " Can I go and see Sasuke? I have to stop by before the surgery."

He nodded, waiting for a second for the lump in his throat to pass before daring to speak. " Of course."

It ached him to aid such a lively person as Naruto had been before to a wheelchair, and it required all his self-control to not let it show. As soon as the boy was sitting, he wrapped his arms around the fragile teen and pulled him close to tender embrace.

When he finally managed to will himself into letting go, the blonde blinked at him. " What was that for?"

He smiled to keep himself from sniffing. " For… no reason." He composed himself for a moment. " I'll be waiting for you after the surgery, okay?"

Naruto smirked again. " Sure." The blonde waved a hand before going. " See you soon."

Once the teen had left, he stood completely still for several minutes, until his legs started to lead him all of a sudden. He had no idea of the destination, nor did he care.

* * *

Sasuke figured that medication must've lulled her into an extremely deep sleep, because it took ages before she managed to wake up properly to a familiar voice and a hand caressing her cheek. " Sasuke? Are you starting to wake up?"

With tremendous effort she pushed her eyelids halfway open, and despite pain slowly rising managed to smile faintly at the sight of Naruto's face. " Hey." She then frowned as memories started to slide into place. " The surgery…?"

Naruto waved a hand. " They won't start preparing me until in an hour." The blonde grinned. " What, did you think I'd go there without coming to see you first?"

She placed her hand onto the one still stroking her cheek. " Dobe."

Some precious, blissfully calm moments passed by with them simply enjoying of each other's company, until such a wave of pain crashed through her that she grimaced and despite all self-restraints emitted a sound of discomfort.

The helpless, sad look that rose to Naruto's face hurt much more than the surge of agony, and she wished from the bottom of her heart that she would've been able to utter at least some words of comfort, to tell him that everything would turn out okay. But at the moment it took all her might to stay conscious under all the ache.

After thinking about it for a while, Naruto got up slowly from his chair, the simple moves it required visibly nearly too much for him, and laid down beside her. At first he held her cautiously, then tightened the embrace, as though afraid that she'd slip away without him convincing her into staying.

She had absolutely no idea of for how long it took until the pain subsided at least enough to allow her to think somewhat clearly.

Slowly, she became aware of Naruto's hand stroking her hair. " Feel any better?" the boy whispered.

" Hmm", she murmured and rested her exhausted head against his chest, instead of pain focusing on listening to the rhythm of his constantly weakening heart that was firmly clinging to life. " It's… not as bad anymore." That was a flat-out lie, really. For at the moment – as she finally started to realize just how little time there was left – it felt like heart had been torn from her chest.

Apparently figuring out that she was lying Naruto kept holding on. After having thought about it for a long time, the blonde finally spoke out. " Do you… remember those dancing lessons we had? Imagine that you're still there. It helps me sometimes."

Although she knew it to be ridiculous, she actually obeyed. It was deviously easy to imagine that they were still swaying to some distant beat like they had the first time they'd danced, far away from all this.

" Well how about that, teme", Naruto commented with a grin, poking skin nearby her lips with one finger. " You're smiling. It's working."

Despite sadness that was almost too powerful to remain locked inside any longer, she found some of the weak beginning of a smile remaining. " You really are a dobe."

Ignoring her words, Naruto planted a kiss to her forehead, still holding her. " Now add in music and we're still there."

Sasuke found her stubborn imagination hanging on to some distant melody, distracting her from ravishing pain. She was beyond stunned to hear Naruto start to hum the exactly same song. To hide her feelings – from smile to barely controllable tears – she hid her face into Naruto's shoulder.

Neither of them was in condition good enough to allow them to actually follow the piece of music with motions, but that didn't stop their minds from flying while they were granted this one more dance.

For once during her stay in the hospital, she hadn't been on track of time's passing until Naruto stopping humming all of a sudden and shivered, as though he'd been terribly cold. " Jiraiya's coming to get me in five minutes", the boy announced, voice – although amazingly firm and brave considering the situation – hiding more panic than she'd ever heard. " They'll prep me for the surgery."

She found cold surge striking through her body, and unable to fight the urge she ran a hand through blonde locks while looking straight into blue, innocent pools. " I know you, Naruto. It'll go just fine."

Naruto gave her a lopsided smile. " I really hope so."

In a spur of a moment she rested her head against the blonde's. " You'll better hang on", she whispered into the boy's ear while her one hand slipped a tiny piece of paper into his slightly trembling, cold one. Her voice quivered, but with sheer willpower she forced it into not cracking, for just a few more moments. " I love you so much."

Naruto kissed her lips with fire that shouldn't have been possible for someone in his condition. " I love you, too." The boy's blue eyes radiated such a spark of certainty that it ached her heart. " Stop looking so sad, teme. We'll see each other again soon, right?"

Instead of offering words, she pressed her lips to his once more – as tightly as she could – and carefully imprinted his taste to her memory. One tear slipped past her guard, but fortunately dried out of sight before Naruto could see it.

There was a knock on the room's door, and after a moment Jiraiya entered. " I figured I'd find this little runaway from here." Despite grin, the man's face also held something tight that revealed he was quite anxious. " It's time to go, Naruto."

The blonde nodded stiffly and – with a lot of help from Jiraiya – managed to sneak his way back into the wheelchair. She noticed that since sitting, the boy held her hand until they were so far apart that even tips of fingers lost contact.

Already almost out of the door, Naruto looked towards her for one more time with a huge grin that carefully disguised all fear. " Wish me luck, will you?"

She forced herself into cracking a smallest of smiles. " Always."

With those as their parting words, Naruto was taken away.

As soon as she could be sure the boy wasn't near enough to hear, she buried her face into one hand and allowed a moan of tremendous pain to escape.

-

Once outside the room, Naruto became aware of the piece of paper Sasuke had given him. He blinked a bit at the two words written to it.

' _Thank you._'

* * *

When Shizune had told Kakashi about a man who'd been sitting unmoving outside the hospital for almost two hours, probably in a shock, he'd realized that he knew who it'd be long before he went to investigate the situation. His heart nearly broke at what he found.

On a bench about a meter or so from the hospital's doors, Iruka was sitting, a cigarette in one of his perfectly still hands. The man didn't move at all, seemed to be barely breathing, and only occasional blinks revealed that he wasn't looking at a statue.

After hesitating for a couple of seconds, he approached slowly and eventually slumped to the bench beside his childhood friend, gazing at the brunette with a frown. " Iruka?" Not discouraged by the lack of reaction, he went on. " Iruka, what's wrong?"

It seemed like those simple words – or perhaps his familiar voice – had sneaked through some damn, smashing it. First one tear slid to Iruka's cheek, then another, and soon enough the man was crying openly, one hand trying to hide the pained face.

Although it wasn't long ago Iruka hadn't been sure if he'd ever be able to forgive him, the man didn't vigour away when he placed one supporting arm around the brunette's quaking shoulders.

* * *

Naruto's weak heart was thumping madly while he lay on a bed in operation theatre, eyes gazing frantically towards all the mask-faced people buzzing around him.

He was startled and almost yelped when one of the people walked up to him, holding a huge mask. " Okay, Naruto", a soft, comforting female-voice spoke while the arrival placed the mask to his face. " I need you to count backwards from ten."

After a tiny, stiff nod, he did as ordered. " Ten… Nine…" His eyes started to droop heavily. " Eight... Seven... Six…" Eyelids slipped closed. " Five…"

* * *

About an hour from when Naruto had been wheeled out of the room, Sasuke emerged from drug-indulged hue and realized that there was something wrong with how all pain disappeared from her. For a first time in what felt like ages, she felt no ache, only such overwhelming fatigue that it was a huge struggle to will her eyes into staying open.

It felt ominously lot like a start of countdown.

Itachi – who'd appeared into the room about half an hour earlier – seemed to sense that something was wrong, for he put down the book he'd been reading to let her have some rest and frowned. " Sasuke?"

" It…" She blinked sluggishly, vaguely wondering if she should've been afraid. " It… doesn't hurt anymore."

Something she, despite her state, recognized as terror flashed by Itachi's dark, tired eyes. Her brother's whole frame jolted as though he'd been shot. " That's… a good thing", the boy managed in a choked voice.

Her head hazy and thoughts too tangled up to be really sorted out, she curled up to a ball as she felt unbearably cold all of a sudden, and allowed her mind to drift.

Once more, she was a five-year-old carried on a piggyback ride by Itachi, laughing happily.

Yet again, she cried to Itachi's chest right after their mother's funeral, the older holding her in a protective hold.

Just one last time, she swirled with Naruto on a dance floor, music wiping everything else away.

One more time, she got to feel his taste in her mouth when they shared their first kiss.

/ _" I love you, too. Stop looking so sad, teme. We'll see each other again soon, right?"_ /

A couple of tears escaped although she didn't know it, shimmering like crystal in morning's sunlight.

She blinked a bit with confusion at first when Itachi sat slowly to the bedside, but leaned gratefully against the welcomed warmth when he laid down and pulled her close, clearly noticing her need of warmth.

All coldness, thoughts and flashes vanished while she enjoyed of the comforting embrace, sleep wanting to claim her.

-

With the education he'd received so far, Itachi noticed easily that Sasuke's breathing pattern had already changed. It was a matter of minutes now…

Tightening his hold on the fragile body in his arms, he started to hum the same song their mother had always been singing when they'd been scared or sad. Sasuke, seeming to recognize the tune, sighed a little with contentment.

Blinking furiously to rid the burning in his eyes, he wished with his all that he could've stretched this moment for just a little bit longer.

He couldn't keep himself from wondering if Sasuke noticed just how badly he trembled, how clearly his whole body shuddered with restrained sobs, when she suddenly snuggled closer and rested her forehead against his chest, eyes sliding closed. " … tired … "

He squeezed his own eyes shut as tightly as he possibly could, didn't notice the tears that escaped with him not having even tenth of the strength holding them back would've required. " It's alright", he whispered, voice shuddering pathetically. His hand trembled when he stroked his sister's hair, gasping for air that leaked out of his unnaturally tight lungs. " It's alright, Sasuke. You can sleep now."

He felt all tension disappear from Sasuke's muscles – as though an arrow had been shot, leaving the bow resting. The girl's hand twitched, but didn't have the strength to grab anymore. He felt her take a long, deep breath and shudder ever so slightly, until her whole form became completely still and limp. With how close he'd pulled her, he could easily feel how her strained heartbeat grew frail at first, then disappeared, gaining rest.

Barely able to breathe, he pulled her even closer and buried his face into her hair. Something snapped broken inside him.

From thereon, his sobs – filled with utter heartbreak – were the only sounds heard in the tiny room.

* * *

TBC, for an epilogue.

* * *

A/N: Good heavens! (takes a deep, shuddering breath)

Before you'll start to hunt me with butcher knives for that ending, I'll make a promise. This story doesn't have to have a sad ending – actually, that sounds highly unlikely. (smiles a bit) I hope that offers you at least mild comfort.

I feel… exhausted, actually, after writing this, so I'll start tuning out now. PLEASE, do review – and, eh… Try not to butcher me, yeah? If you do, you'll never see the epilogue… HUGE packages of tissues and special treats for reviewers!

Until laters, folks! I really hope you'll all be tuned then.

Be good!

**Only epilogue left.** (wipes tears)


	13. Epilogue

**To those who haven't noticed, there's a re-posted version of chapter twelve. There's been some fixing of spelling- and grammar errors, plus changes to the paragraph of Kimimaro and Hinata. Take a look if you're curious.**

A/N: Uh-huh… Back for the last one! (faints with shock)

Before getting started, WOW - you guys, thank you SO MUCH for those AMAZING reviews you've posted! You've officially broken my 'most reviews per chapter' review! (gives HUGE hugs and tissues for those still recovering from the last chapter) THANK YOU! (**Those who reviewed anonymously, feel free to take a look at responses to your reviews from below this chapter.**)

Okay, without further babbling… Here we go, for a final time! I REALLY hope you'll enjoy of this epilogue!

* * *

CHAPTER 13: Epilogue

* * *

/ _**Heaven is a place nearby  
So I won't be so far away.  
And if you try and look for me  
Maybe you'll find me someday.  
Heaven is a place nearby  
So there's no need to say goodbye  
I wanna ask you not to cry  
I'll always be by your side.**_ /

/ _**You just faded away  
You spread your wings you had flown  
Away to something unknown  
Wish I could bring you back.  
You're always on my mind  
About to tear myself apart.  
You have your special place in my heart.**_ /

(Lene Marlin: "A place nearby")

* * *

**Twelve Years Later.**

* * *

Even though the band in which he played guitar had been quite famous for four years already, Naruto still hated interviews more than anything. While their interviewer, a brunette named Momiji, pestered Shino, their singer, Chouji, their drummer, and Kiba, their bassist, he drifted into a little world of his own, wanting out of the situation.

He didn't hate these things only because the interviewer always seemed to make the most personal and inappropriate questions, but because it was inevitable that at some point there'd be poking around what the band's female fans wanted to know everything about: his love life. So far no one but his very nearest and dearest ones knew about Sasuke, so it was a reason for a lot of gossiping that he never went to dates with anyone, and many questioned his sexual orientation. Most of the time that didn't bother him, really. At least it kept some of the craziest female fans nicely at arm's length.

" So, Naruto…" Momiji's eyes were like that of predator's that'd sensed blood. " You write all the lyrics to your songs, right?"

He nodded stiffly, not liking where this was going. " That's right."

" I must confess I found your newest single very interesting – especially with the messages of thank you you've all written." She fished out their latest album, and he felt very cold all of a sudden when she waved it before his nose. " Who's this… Sasuke you wished to thank?"

All colour disappeared from his face.

_Oh shit…_

He'd known from quite beginning that it was a mistake to put Sasuke's name there, especially with how hard he'd worked to never let public get onto her tails. But now that the question was thrown at his face…

Fortunately, Gaara – their manager – appeared for rescue. " Alright, I think that was very well enough for now." The redhead's eyes left no room for arguments. " Send me the article so I can take a look at it before it's published, will you?"

Gritting her teeth tightly, Momiji nodded, obviously fuming. " Sure." Her eyes were sharp with annoyance when she looked at him, then the rest of the band. " Thank you for the interview." So saying she left, slamming the door shut behind her.

While he sat completely numb and this ache appearing to everywhere inside him, the rest of the band emitted sighs of relief. " Geez!" Kiba scoffed, scratching his dog's – Akamaru's – head. " I seriously thought that woman would eat us up alive!"

Shino – the sharpest of them – seemed to sense that there was something strange going on with him, for the man got up with an odd expression. " Let's go, guys. I'll buy you some breakfast from that new restaurant."

Naruto cast a look of gratitude towards his friend, already well used to meeting eyes only behind dark glasses. _Thank you._ " I'll follow you guys in a bit."

Shino nodded, whereas Kiba and Chouji were too distracted to even hear him.

Once the three were gone, he sunk deep into dark thoughts. His eyes swept towards a calendar hanging nearby.

_Twelve years, huh?_

It was almost ironic that no matter how scared he'd been before that first surgery, in days like this a tiny part inside him still wished he wouldn't have woken up after it.

He hadn't been told about Sasuke's death until three days from his surgery, but deep in his heart – despite all medication and blissful denial – he'd known from the moment he'd woken up. Even though his heart had just been successfully fixed, a part of him died that day. It certainly didn't make things easier that his condition hadn't allowed him to even take part to the girl's funeral, to say goodbye. One week after the funeral, Jiraiya had told him that'd he'd finally get a heart transplant. He was probably the only person who'd cried bitter tears after hearing such news.

" Naruto?" He shuddered, having forgotten Gaara's presence. The redhead was looking at him with worried eyes that clearly told the man hadn't slept properly for a couple of nights, either. " Are you okay?"

He emitted a laughter that sounded quite a bit like wheeze. " No." He swallowed thickly, fingers fiddling a treasure he always held hidden right above his heart. " I… I'm finally going to do it today, Gaara. And…" Another wheeze. " I've never been this un-okay in my entire life."

Gaara remained silent for a longest time, visibly thinking. " Do you want me to come along?"

He shook his head surprisingly firmly. " Thanks, but… This is something I have to do alone."

The redhead nodded with a look of sympathy. " Okay. I'm supposed to go and see if Temari and Shikamaru have blown up the orphanage, anyway."  
To his stun, he managed to crack a thin smile, which disappeared quickly. It took his all to force himself into getting up from his chair. " I… I'll see you at the practise, tomorrow."

Gaara nodded. Usually, they called each other every day. This was the only day during a year they didn't.

While walking out of the room, he used all his willpower into trying to believe a single, simple fact.

This would probably be the hardest thing he'd ever done, but he'd have to do this – for the sake of himself and Sasuke. He owed this one to them both.

That thought was the only thing keeping him from falling to his knees screaming.

* * *

Ino, who was currently standing on a balcony, had always loved Paris, long before she'd decided to spend a year studying there. She particularly enjoyed of the slowly approaching summer, and these sunny early mornings that carried a promise of a bright day to come – well, almost every time.

Today, it seemed, was different.

_Twelve years…_

" Mommy!" her five years old daughter's teary voice sounded, and in a matter of seconds a small girl with long, at the moment quite messy black hair and huge blue eyes was hugging her leg. " Koji-teme's bullying me!"

There was a huff, and once turning her head she found another five-year-old – a boy this time, the girl's twin – with short, ruffled blonde hair and big, expressive black eyes. The boy's arms were folded. " Well Aimi-baka started it. She stole my book."

She took a deep breath, desperately trying to remember why it was again she'd agreed to become a mother. " Koji, Aimi, stop running around and insulting each other _right now_, or I won't take you to the opening of daddy's gallery tomorrow. Understood?"

Both of the twins sulked when starting to return indoors, each firmly and loudly announcing that this hassle was the other's fault. In a moment, however, those sounds were replaced by squeals of delight, and she could hear Sai's familiar laughter when the twins undoubtedly charged to tackle him.

In a couple of minute's Sai entered the balcony, and gave her a sympathy-filled look once spotting the expression upon her face. " Hard day?" Obviously, he remembered exactly what day this was.

" Hmm." Despite everything that was bouncing around inside her skull, she felt shivers of pleasure and almost managed to smile when he gave her a long kiss. In moments like this, she definitely didn't regret moving to France a week after Sasuke's funeral to start over – that, although she'd had no idea of where Sai was, for he'd never heard her scream at the airport. This kiss reminded her of the one they'd exchanged when she'd finally found him after five days of searching. " But there's hope of it getting better."

Sai smiled a bit. " Well, in that case…"

Her eyes widened when he pulled out a perfect white rose. " That's… beautiful!" She then came to think of something. " It is for me, right?"

" Techically, no." There was a mysterious look in her husband's eyes. " What would you say if Karin would watch over the twins for an hour longer than usually today? I want to take you somewhere before you go to work."

-

Ino was mildly surprised upon discovering that Sai lead her to the edge of Seine. " It's beautiful here." She gave him a sideways glance. " But I'm still curious… What are we doing here?"

Sai gave her a somewhat sad smile. " I'm trying to help you let go."

She frowned, cold shivers running through her. " What?"

" Ino, it's been twelve years." She'd never seen Sai's eyes as gentle as they were when he offered the rose towards her. " I know Sasuke wouldn't have wanted you to hang on to her memory. You have to let go – for both of your sakes."

Her eyes widened with disbelief at first, but in the end she found her trembling hand reaching out towards the flower, finally grabbing it. She stared at the river for what must've been at least five minutes until her still shivering fingers finally opened.

Letting go of the rose was the hardest thing she'd ever done, and she could've sworn something inside her broke.

Even after all the years passed, it was ridiculously hard to watch water take a firm hold of the flower, carrying it away. She felt unbearably cold.

She was just about to break down when without a warning Sai's hand appeared and grabbed hers, holding on. Once she finally managed to squeeze back, she was baffled by how all coldness disappeared from her.

At that moment, although tears were streaming down her cheeks, she smiled just a little.

_Goodbye_, her mind finally managed to whisper. Her tear-hazed gaze rose towards the clouds drifting high above. _Who knows, maybe I'll see you again someday._

* * *

It was still rather early while Kakashi walked rather lazily through a park in Konoha, one arm wrapped loosely around Shizune's waistline and a two years old boy with silvery hair and pitch-black eyes dangling on his shoulders.

" Why did we come here again?" he inquired. He didn't mean to be grumpy, but he'd just had two nightshifts in a row, and all he would've wanted was to spend some nice, quiet time with his family at home.

Shizune smiled mysteriously. " Because Daiki wanted to come and feed birds. Plus, there's someone in here I want you to meet."

He frowned, but before he could ask a thing he noticed someone very familiar sitting on a bench nearby. He had to blink his eyes for ten times before he dared to believe them.

_Iruka?_

Shizune gave him a meaningful look after planting a small kiss to his lips. " How about if I'd take Daiki to see birds?" she suggested while gently taking their son from his shoulders. " You can catch up with us later."

Daiki waved happily. " Come soon, daddy! I wanna watch birds with you!"

He could only nod. It took several seconds before he managed to walk up to Iruka.

The brunette had a smile upon his face while the man watched his distancing family. " Daiki's grown up a lot from the last time I saw him", the other observed.

He couldn't help smirking. " They grow up scarily lot in four months." He then came to think of something. " How about Anko? Has she already…?"

Iruka's smile grew even wider. His heart swelled a bit at how his childhood friend's eyes sparked like back when they'd been kids. " She went into a labour two days ago. I'll go into the hospital soon to see if she and our little princess are ready to go home."

His grin turned into a heart filled, genuine smile. " Congratulations." They were silent for a while until another thought crossed his mind. " What are you doing here, anyway? How did you manage to rip yourself out the hospital?" He was pretty sure that the mysterious aura that'd been hanging around Shizune lately had something to do with it.

Iruka's expression turned solemn – so serious, in fact, that it scared him a bit. " Because… there's something I have to do, now that I'm a father at very least." Very slowly, the man pulled out two yellow roses – Rin's favourite type. " I think we should go together this time around."

He was too stunned to speak for a very long time until a wheeze agreed to come. " Are you… sure?"

Iruka nodded determinedly. For a first time since Rin's death, he saw no bitterness or hatred in his friend's eyes. Past was finally where it belonged. " Yeah, I am."

It was the first time in several years they walked side by side, and after that neither of them went to visit Rin alone for as long as both of them lived.

(There was never another months long, let alone longer, gap between their meetings.)

* * *

At first, Naruto didn't have a slightest clue of where he wanted to go – there were so many places, so many precious memories, he wanted to visit once more that he didn't have any idea of where to start. In the end, his legs did thinking for him.

He wasn't all that surprised when he found himself standing before the houses in which Sasuke and he had lived once upon a time. (Itachi had moved away as soon as he'd managed to gather strength for that after Sasuke's funeral, and he'd also moved with Iruka as soon as he'd recovered from his second surgery.) As though working free of his will, his eyes moved to the yard between the houses. Without being called hellish burning appeared into his eyes, and a lump that forced him to gasp a bit took its usual place in his throat.

/ _He could still remember the first real conversation they'd had, so clearly that it scared him._ /

/_ " Bach, Sonata No. 1."_

_It was the first time he'd had Sasuke confused. " What?"_

_He recalled smirking victoriously. " That song you played earlier. Bach, Sonata No. 1."_

_Sasuke's arched eyebrow had given him a sensation of pleasure. " How did you find that out?"_

_His grin had turned into a mysterious one. " You're not the only one has a thing for music."_

_He'd come close to making Sasuke smile. " You have far too much free time, dobe."_

_He'd held her hand that late evening, to which she'd agreed after having tried to vigour off for a while. He didn't know exactly for how long they'd spent watching stars, but it'd been one of the best evenings in his life so far._ /

Blinking furiously to rid the painful burning in his eyes, he made sure no one was at home in either one of the houses – what he was about to do would've certainly seemed… bizarre, to say the least, to the new inhabitants – then approached.

Once he was stood on the lawn with his legs trembling pathetically, his shuddering hands pulled out a tiny, extremely beautiful silvery container he'd worn on a necklace right above his heart for almost twelve years already. Careful to not pour out all of the grey, dust-like substance – the last remnant he had left of Sasuke – he allowed a small amount to drop to the ground. (Two months after Sasuke's funeral, Itachi had visited him and given the container to him, saying that it held a small piece of Sasuke he'd have to let go of once he was ready.)

Memories came immediately, making the already hard event even more painful, almost excruciating. It felt like his heart had been shredded to pieces.

/ _Their very first meeting, the looks of recognizing in their eyes when they faced each other._ /

/ _" You have exactly five seconds to come up with a decent excuse to why you're breaking into my home, before you'll end up your head's height shorter", Sasuke had snarled._ /

He closed his eyes, tightly, but it did nothing to help him with the searing sensation.

/ _He and Sasuke playing together, melodies mixing suavely._ /

/ _" Sasuke? Was she that girl playing a violin?"_

" _Yeah." Already then, it was hard to keep his emotions in check. " Apparently she thinks she can play or something."_ /

He could still almost hear the sound of Sasuke's violin, and ache-like tingle crossed his skin.

/ _" Feel that, teme? I'm still alive and kicking. Everything's okay."_ /

/ _Their first kiss, sweet and full of emotion, which he'd been so very embarrassed by later on._ /

He made another gasp-like sound, unaware of the fact that he was being approached.

" Naruto?"

/ _The last days they'd spent at home, those quiet hours he'd always value beyond anything else they'd spent laying in each other's arms._ /

" Uzumaki Naruto?"

His eyes – very blurry although he couldn't figure out why – snapped open, and he whirled around, quickly hiding the container. He blinked quite owlishly at the brown-haired, excited looking teenager he faced. " Um… Hey."  
The teen's eyes sparked. " Are you really Uzumaki Naruto? That rock star?"

Yes, he loved his fans. But right now they were just about the last thing on his mind. " Sorry, kid." His voice was hoarse, barely anything human. " I'm afraid you've got the wrong guy." With that he turned on his heels and started to all but sprint away.

He still had many places to go, and he'd have to keep moving while he still could.

* * *

As per usual, the orphanage (which Tsunade had given to Temari and Shikamaru's care six years earlier) was filled with loud noise when Gaara entered. He stood by the doorway for a long time, enjoying of the hassle that wiped away all the gloomy thoughts hanging on his mind.

" Damnit, Nara!" Temari groaned, causing some of the kids around her to giggle. " How many times do you have to be taught something as simple as how to put on a diaper? Kira's soaking wet." Gaara wasn't exactly surprised that he could remember exactly to which of the building's inhabitants the woman referred. He'd spent so much time with these kids that he knew them down to a very last trick by now.

He forced his legs into moving just when Shikamaru replied with a groan. " I'm still pretty hopeless, aren't I?"

" Yes, you are." He entered the room just in time to see Temari give the man's lips a firm kiss. Forcing his eyes elsewhere, he shuddered yet again upon discovering just how huge his sister's bump had become. " It's your luck you're also adorable."

" Gaara-kun!" Kira – a tiny girl with red hair a lot like his and radiant dark eyes – suddenly squealed from Shikamaru's arms, outstretching a pair of small arms towards him. " Gaara-kun!"

" Hey", Shikamaru greeted with a small smile – clearly still a bit afraid of him, no matter how many years the man had been dating Temari – while giving Kira into his arms.

Temari gave him a look that stated loudly that she knew exactly what day it was. " I thought you wouldn't come today."

He forced himself into smiling just a little while Kira squirmed to get into a better position. " I didn't think I could stand being alone", he confessed, although it required swallowing a huge amount of pride.

Temari nodded, then hissed, placing a hand to her belly. " Damn…", she snarled, making circling motions with her hand. " The little one's been practising judo a lot lately. I really hope he won't decide to pop out before we've pulled through the wedding."

" 'She'", Shikamaru corrected matter-of-factly, earning narrowed eyes from Temari.

Gaara understood his sister's concern. It was only two weeks to she and Shikamaru's first child's due to date, and a week to their wedding. It was a real close call.

Talking about children… " Kankuro called this morning", he stated, the memory floating into his mind all of a sudden. " Haku went into a labour yesterday. It's a boy."

Hormones taking over, Temari emitted a loud sound of delight, pulling Shikamaru and him – as well as somewhat startled looking Kira – into a huge hug. Once she was done, his sister stroked her abdomen once more with a grin. " Hear that, little one? You just got a brand new baby-cousin."

He swallowed thickly, another piece of that mentioned phone call coming to his mind. He searched for words until all but whispering. " He… also asked me to come to New York, if only just for a visit." Facing Temari's look, he went on. " I'm leaving right after the wedding."

Temari didn't seem surprised, although sad. After Sasuke's death, living in Konoha – where all memories of both that one year he'd known the raven and events long before that lingered – had become almost impossible for him. He needed an escape, desperately.

Kira made a loud gasp in his arms, grabbing a stunningly tight hold of his shirt. The child's eyes were shimmering. " Gaara-kun can't go!"

He forced himself into smiling. " Sweetie, I'm not going forever. I'll still be coming to see you." Feeling a need to leave, he started to put the mildly resisting girl back to floor. " I… should go. I'm already running late from a meeting, anyway."  
Surprising him, Temari took his hand. There was an odd look in his sister's eyes. " Stay, for a little while." She grinned, although it hid something. " We'll start preparing a birthday party for one of the kids, and there'll be a lot of chaos. It'd be nice to have you around."

He opened his mouth to argue, but then – before he could even wonder why – closed it again, instead let Temari lead him away with Kira's help.

He was in a need of some distraction, anyway.

* * *

Naruto's steps were heavy while he continued his lonely, sad journey, all the while using every ounce of his willpower into not breaking down.

The next place his mind chose to lead him was school. Beyond relieved by the fact that the kids and teachers were on classes, he dared to approach. From quite a distance, he could hear music coming from gym hall.

Memories slashed so deep that he had to grit teeth.

/ _He and Sasuke dancing, tingle between them he'd denied at first, how they shuddered under each other's hold._ /

/ _Sasuke's eyes flashing fire. " Sneak that hand of yours an inch lower and you'll lose it."_

_His snort that hid away so much. " Don't flatter yourself, teme."_ /

He'd never danced with anyone else after that – it just wouldn't have been the same.

Futilely trying to swallow down the lump that once again returned to his throat, he poured another tiny bit of Sasuke to wind's mercy, watched as a gentle breeze made it dance nearby the wall.

He emitted a tiny moan.

_Why the hell did I make myself do this?!_

It too a lot of him to turn around and walk away from Sasuke, to leave what was left of her dance alone.

The journey had to go on.

* * *

TenTen sighed heavily while looking at a fat file in front of her, went through photographs of bruises and injuries after another. In each picture, the teen's auburn eyes were so filled with unvoiced, helpless rage that it tore her heart.

_Tyakuki, Ranmaru_, said a sticker placed on the file's cover.

The girl had been in different hospitals for almost fifty or sixty times although she was only barely thirteen, and had been arrested for several times for small crimes. Now, her father had been arrested for several assaults, and bottom had fallen from the girl's world.

She'd been working as a therapist for children and teenagers suffering from domestic violence for years already. This was definitely the most broken child she'd come across so far. At times like this, it was excruciatingly hard to not let work get under her skin.

Especially today.

Sighing again, she closed the file, then allowed her fingers to move to a extremely beautiful rose in front of her, finally playing gently with the flower's petals that held the strangest shade of red she'd ever seen. Her eyes met another rose – bright red – but she refused to touch it.

Maybe today, after all the years passed, she'd finally be strong enough to visit Sasuke's grave – and her father's, who'd died from all the drinking he'd done five years earlier.

Life… would have to move on eventually, right?

She gasped – not having even heard the door of her office being opened – when soft, tender lips suddenly touched her neck. Despite darkish thoughts, her lips formed a slight smile. " I see you got out of work early."

" Yeah. The client was easier to handle than I thought", Neji's voice all but purred right into her ear, the soft breath of warm air almost enough to drive her insane. " Besides, it's already late. We should be headed for the party."

" Hmh", she emitted, not exactly pleased by the idea of leaving this comfortable room.

Neji distanced himself from her a little to take a look at her face. His eyes revealed that he understood exactly what was going through her head. " So today's the day, huh?"

She could only nod.

Not saying a word, Neji leaned down and placed a small kiss, almost like that of comfort, to her lips. " It'll be okay", he murmured, then kissed her again. " I love you." His hand brushed her still quite flat abdomen. " Both of you."

Again, thin smile refused to stay away. " We love you, too."

There was a loud sound of displeasure from the office's doorway. Turning her head, she found already thirteen-years-old Aki, and was once again baffled by how much the boy looked like his father although he'd inherited her hair. " Would you two cut it out? I don't want to become traumatized for life."

A tiny, welcomed chuckle erupted through her throat. Forcing herself into standing up, she put away the files that'd been laying on her table and started to prepare herself for leaving, mentally as well. " Alright, then… I suppose it's time to go." Her voice was croaky and unfamiliar.

Aki frowned, taking the two roses to help her. " Where are we going, exactly? To that christening you've been talking about?"

" Yeah, but first…" She was pretty sure that although there was a faintest of smiles, her eyes shimmered a bit when she looked at her son. " First, I… want you to finally meet a very dear friend of mine."

* * *

Backyard of a small, beautiful house on the very edge of Konoha was bathing in late spring's bright light, and enchanting scent of flowers was clear in the air while Hinata walked slowly towards the small table that'd been placed in the middle of all. The tiny baby-boy in her arms gave a small sound of displeasure, waking up from his slumber.

She couldn't keep herself from smiling when a pair of pale eyes inched open to greet her. " 'Morning, sweetie", she greeted in a soft tone she didn't use with anyone else but her children. She brushed the baby's cheek with one finger, causing him to chirp with delight. " This is an exciting day. You'll finally get your name. Daddy will come any minute with a priest."

While she kept talking to the baby, her thoughts drifted elsewhere. For a longest time, she'd been firmly against having the christening _today_ of all days. But eventually, common sense and TenTen's words had convinced her otherwise. After so many long, at times painful years, she had to learn to remember this date from something else than Sasuke's death.

" Mom!" Her older child's – eleven years old Takara's – voice snatched her out of those thoughts. She suspected it'd never cease baffling her how much like both of her parents the girl looked with long hair just like hers and Kimimaro's sparkling eyes. " Aunt-TenTen and Aki-kun came."

She smiled a bit upon seeing her friend, who was walking behind Takara and Aki. She was almost sure her friend also wondered if their children noticed that they were holding hands. " Hey", she greeted. " Where's Neji?"

TenTen flashed a grin her way. " Parking the car. I was starting to get a little nauseous from all the spinning around so he let me out." The woman thought for a moment, then went on. " Oh yeah, and Sakura called. She should be here soon."

It was then she noticed that there seemed to be a change of some sort upon her friend's face. It didn't take long before she understood. It was apparent TenTen had cried, but it also seemed like a weight of some sort had been lifted from the brunette's shoulders. " So you finally visited her?"

TenTen nodded, her smile quivering a bit. " I had no idea of how hard it'd be." The woman then walked closer and tickled her tiny son's chin. Both of them laughed when the baby made a loud sound of happiness. " I really hope you're ready for all this hassle, little one. Today's a big day."

" Mom." Takara's voice claimed her attention once more. The girl still hadn't let go of Aki's hand, and the boy wasn't making a move to change that. " Since everyone's not here yet, can I introduce Aki-kun to Basco?" The girl was referring to her cat, which she'd – after having begged to have one every day for the past year – finally had the day before.

She was just about to respond when something – or rather, someone – she would've never expected to see came out of the house by Kimimaro's side. TenTen took a step closer to her.

Hiashi Hyuuga seemed so much older from when she'd last seen him in that cheap motel-room that it actually startled her. His eyes suggested that he hadn't slept at all for a long time.

At the moment, though, her father's physical appearance wasn't the first and most important thing on her mind. She swallowed thickly. " What are you doing here?"

The man opened his mouth, but Kimimaro beat him to speaking. " Remember that day a month ago, when I came home from work badly late? I met him then, and we talked for a long time." Her husband's green eyes – which seemed even older than usually – were filled with something unfamiliar to her while the man walked up to her and talked so quietly that others couldn't hear, wrapping a pair of supporting arms around her. " Life is too short for carrying hatred like this. You have to try to forgive eventually – for your own sake."

She could only stare, yet gain bewildered by her husband.

" Mom." Takara's eyes were filled with confusion and near-fright, and she found a deep frown from her daughter's face. " Who's that man?"

For a longest time tense, expectant silence hung above the backyard. Then, surprising even herself with the action, she spoke in a stunningly soft voice. " Takara… I want you to meet your grandfather."

* * *

Naruto was stunned to discover how different the small park on the edge of Konoha looked from the one in his memories without wintry ice on it. Noticing some kids playing football, he stayed hidden in the shadows to be able to carry on his dark quest in privacy.

He found himself emitting a tiny sniff when letting go yet another piece of Sasuke, and watched it make its way to the park, twirling around as though remembering.

/ _Sasuke trying to teach him skating, the two of them ending up falling into the ice, he on top of Sasuke._ /

/ _" I told you that I've never tried this before, right?"_

_Sasuke's near-smile that'd caused a warm flutter inside him. " Somehow, I have no trouble with believing you."_ /

" Mister?" Turning around with startle, he found a small girl that couldn't be older than four looking up at him with a great deal of concern. " Are you okay? You're crying."

Wiping away the moisture he hadn't even realized forming, he did his best to smile reassuringly. " Y – Yeah, I am. Just… a bit sad." In any other occasion, he might've laughed at the huge understatement.

" Sweetie!" a woman, undoubtedly the girl's mother, shouted, rushing towards them. The woman's gaze held a scolding look while she grabbed the child. " What have I told you about talking to strangers?" She flashed him an apologetic look, fortunately not seeming to recognize. " I'm sorry."

He forced himself to smile, just like so many times during the past twelve years. " It's alright. She was no trouble."

Once the mother and daughter had left he remained there, eyes following the never-ending patterns Sasuke's ashes made while being carried by wind.

He didn't realize it wasn't until an hour later he finally managed to move again.

* * *

Although he'd lived in the house for almost twelve years already, Itachi found himself feeling lost while standing behind a door he hadn't dared to open up since closing it two days after moving in. He took a deep, nearly desperate breath and pulled it open with a trembling hand.

It wasn't dust formed during all the years that made his eyes and throat sting when the sight greeted him.

Pretty much everyone had told him that it was a mistake to take all of Sasuke's things along to the new house, but he hadn't been able to leave them – all he had left of his sister – behind. Now, all those mementos were staring at him right into eyes.

At least two full minutes passed until he finally managed to enter the room, carrying several empty cardboard boxes. It was finally time to do what should've been done years ago.

Putting away all those things that'd been precious to Sasuke felt almost like losing her again, and memories flowing in a constant river made it thousand times more painful.

Memories of pain, of happiness, of helplessness, of tears, of joy, of sickness, of health, of love.

He trembled as though in great deal of pain upon suddenly realizing that every single item had been packed up.

Sasuke was really gone, nothing but a memory, all her things packed up and on their way away.

At that moment, he did something he hadn't managed to do since the day Sasuke died. He finally broke down and cried.

" Daddy?" He shuddered at his daughter's – Minako's – voice that brought comfort into him even now. Turning his bleary gaze slowly, he trembled again when facing a four-year-old that was an exact replica from Sasuke, looking at him with worry-filled black eyes. " Why are you crying? Are you hurting?"

He gave a somewhat teary chuckle while wrapping his arms around the child when she came to hug him. " Yeah, sweetie", he breathed out. " I am. But it doesn't hurt as much now that you're here."

He could imagine how the child's face brightened. " Really?"

" Really."

He lost track on for how long they'd been there – with their roles switched – when there was a distant sound of door being opened. In a couple of minutes Sakura was stood by the doorway. The pinkette seemed taken aback for a moment once seeing what he'd done, and it took several seconds before she could speak, threatening tears in her eyes. " So… you finally did it."

He nodded, unable to form another word and feeling completely worn all of a sudden.

He'd never felt that empty in his entire life.

-

Sakura knew she should've been hurrying towards the christening of Hinata's son, but right now, with tears almost falling…

They all needed this more.

Without saying a word she walked up to Itachi and Minako, wrapping her arms tightly around both of them. Tears finally broke when she felt Itachi's body shudder with sobs. This time, they weren't tears of loss, but of a new, painful beginning.

She was almost sure that somewhere up above Sasuke smiled, relieved by seeing them finally let go.

* * *

That late afternoon – after finishing a day of work that'd been practically off no use with how distracted he'd been – Gaara found his feet dragging him to a café.

Since he wasn't too much into the idea of numbing himself with alcohol, caffeine sounded like a nice option. Or… so he thought.

For as soon as he entered, what he first thought was a hurricane was dashing towards him. A young woman with brown hair and dark eyes that were looking towards anything else but where she was going stormed towards him, holding a takeaway-cup of coffee. " … and make sure the door's locked before you go, okay?"

Then, before he could take a single step sideways to avoid the impact, she collided with his chest, sending the coffee flying all over. He hissed a little despite resistance when burning-hot liquid met his skin.

The woman's eyes widened and her face went chalk white when she noticed the damage done. " Oh… crap…" Then regaining some of her sanity, she hastily pulled out a napkin from her handbag and started to try and clean up some of the mess on his clothes. " Oh no, I'm so sorry! I should've looked where I was going!"

Suddenly, it wasn't all that hard for him to find a smile. " It's okay." After hesitating for a while, he added. " I'm Gaara."

" M – Matsuri." Radiant blush on her cheeks, the woman put away the napkin as rapidly as she'd pulled it out, evidently in a hurry to get away. " I… I should go." With that, she started to all but sprint away.

He found himself smiling faintly while watching her distancing back. Already then, a distant part of him wondered if leaving Konoha was such a smart idea after all.

(He came to that café a lot since.)

* * *

Afternoon had already progressed far when Naruto finally made it to his last pit stop, his legs so weak that he could barely stand and his eyes aching mercilessly.

The beach was just as beautiful as he'd remembered, and for a longest time he stood there, watching how water sparked like a field of crystals under sun's tender touch, caressing soft sand.

After having enjoyed of the sight for a while, steeling himself for the inevitable, he took a little look around. Relief flooded over when he discovered that no one was there to prove this.

The last thing he needed was audience.

His steps were slow and wobbly when he walked towards the very spot where he and Sasuke had sat a little over twelve years earlier, remembering the place and every single moment of that day so clearly it hurt. His hand was quivering even worse than before when he closed the silvery container to it, then poured out the last drops of Sasuke.

Even this time, he wasn't spared from memories.

/ _That day on a beach just before they'd ended up into a hospital, when it'd been so very easy to pretend that everything would turn out alright._ /

/ _Sasuke's forehead against his, the girl's hand holding his tenderly. " Don't worry about me, dobe. There's still hope. You need to keep holding on."_ /

It felt like world had been crashing down around him as he watched wind grabbing the remnants of the person he still loved beyond everything, carrying them away.

At that point, he finally became all too aware of the fact that tears were streaming down his cheeks. He closed his eyes, almost whimpered at all the flashes passing by before them. " I love you", he choked out, hoping from the bottom of his heart that those feeble words reached their destination. " I love you so much. I miss you."

There was no response, no magical sign from universe that he would've been heard.

He buried his face into one hand, allowing all ache to flood out in an overwhelming burst although it was just about more than he could stand.

" I miss you", he all but cried out, bringing his free hand to his burning, throbbing chest. " I miss you so fucking much."

At that moment, came what he'd desperately wanted to feel. There was what felt like a gentle touch on his shoulder – so light that it could've been his imagination.

One last memory came.

/ _His heart had already known that something was coming to an end when he'd looked at Sasuke's face for a one last time. " Wish me luck, will you?"_

_If he focused, he could still hear Sasuke's voice in his ears. " Always."_ /

_Always._

Still crying, he finally managed to remove his hand from his eyes and dared to open them up. He blinked a little when seeing a tiny bird hopping on sand nearby, looking at him with its head tilted. Seeing him looking, the bird made a surprisingly loud sound and rose to its wings, rising towards sun shining high up above.

/ _" There's still hope. You need to keep holding on."_ /

Even through tears a small, badly shuddering smile came to his face while he kept following the seemingly insignificant being, then moved his gaze to the sky. " Bye, for now." His voice crackled, but that didn't stop him. " I'll come and find you someday, I promise. I… I won't stop looking until I've found you."

He could've sworn he heard one more triumphant scream from the bird until it disappeared.

" Naruto?" Iruka's familiar voice managed to startle him. Turning around, he met worried brown eyes. " Gaara called, and I decided to come and see if you're here before going to pick up Anko and the baby." The man frowned. " Are you okay?"

It took a while, but eventually he managed to nod, still smiling palely through tears. " Y – Yeah", he whispered and wrapped a hand around the now empty silvery container, starting to realize that he'd finally let go of its contents. " I… I think I will be, eventually."

* * *

**Sixty years later.**

* * *

Umino Mari had always been very close to her big brother Naruto, regardless to the facts that they weren't related by blood, had quite an age-difference and there was always this sadness around the man. It was only understandable, seeing as the man had been her only living relative for the past forty years, after Iruka and Anko had died in an accident. That's why it pained her beyond everything else to see the formally lively, now aged man this weak, helpless, and tied to a hospital's bed.

To avoid looking at the now frail man she allowed her gaze to travel on all the pictures scattered all over the room, offering evidence of a long, eventful life.

Places from all around the world – Tokyo, Paris, New York, Sydney, several places in breathtakingly beautiful Africa she couldn't even name anymore. Stunning amount of friends having fun together, family members enjoying of each other's company, and one particularly precious snapshot of a raven-haired girl who's name her brother had never wanted to reveal.

She'd heard many amazing stories from her older sibling, and wondered how many more would disappear along with the man.

She jolted out of thoughts to a feeble movement. Seeing as Naruto hadn't even had the strength to open up his eyes for the past three days, she was mildly startled when they suddenly inched open, already hazy and unfocused. " Sasuke…?"

It stung badly to once again break that desperate hope. " No, Naruto. Just me."

Despite her words Naruto kept smiling, obviously seeing something she couldn't. The hand she'd been holding twitched slightly, as though trying to squeeze. " I'll be there soon, 'Suke. I'll see you soon."

Although some tears spilled to her cheeks and her chest ached almost more than she could bear she smiled, stroking the old hand in hers. " I know", she whispered softly, her voice crackling. " Now hurry."

Still smiling, Naruto closed his eyes and sighed, sounding and seeming more content than she remembered him being ever before. She already knew those eyes would never open again.

-

Naruto felt like he'd woken up from a longest sleep when his eyes suddenly opened. Blinking with utter confusion, he lifted his hand and gasped.

No wrinkles, no signs of all the hard years he'd spent on earth after Sasuke.

" Naruto." That voice – so familiar, so badly missed – sent shivers of pleasure, relief and joy through him. Lifting his gaze, he saw a figure unearthly mist hid so well that he couldn't even see the face. A hand he recognized so very well despite all the years passed was outstretched for him. " Do you want to come?"

A bright smirk appearing to his face, he took the hand without an inch of hesitation.

* * *

_**Owari.**_

* * *

A/N: (wipes eyes)

I seriously can't believe it's over! (starts bawling) Gosh, I've enjoyed of writing this story SO MUCH, although it's been a bit challenging at times. I'm way beyond thrilled if you guys have had even tenth of that fun with reading this (although 'fun' can't exactly be associated with this story…)

Once more, THANK YOU – for reading, for listing, for reviewing! (gives ENORMOUS hugs again, along with all kinds of sweet special treats and tissues for those who need such) I've really loved writing to you guys – you've been a FANTASTIC audience! (bows with respect)

Until we shall be typing again!

All the very best!

* * *

**blah81691**: The first femSasu story you enjoyed – AND poignant?! Holy goodness, THANK YOU!

Hmm… Due to my time spent on writing is constantly monitored AND heavily criticized by certain someone most of the time, I'm afraid it'll take a while before I'll be able to launch another new fic, especially since there's a currently rolling project I'm trying to finish. (winces) BUT, as soon as I possibly can I'll TRY to ship out a new femSasu work. (There's a lil', already closed poll on my profile that includes the ideas that've been rolling around in my mind.)

MASSIVE thank yous for the incredible review! I really hope you'll stick around for the epilogue.

-

**stephanie**: Chapter twelve was heartbreaking, eh? (sniffs)

HUGE thank yous for the review - 'happy to hear you liked the chapter! I really hope you'll enjoy of the epilogue as well.

-

**tragic fate**: Oh no! (gives out plenty of tissues)

Massive thank yous for the dazzling review - gosh, how glad I am to hear you liked the chapter, as well as the whole story, and to that extend! I sincerely hope you'll like the epilogue, too.


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